Sword Art Online Alternative: Spell Blade Online
by NejiHyugaII
Summary: November 7, 2024. The endgame has come. Our hero is on the verge of victory...! However, Fate is angry. And our Hero falls. Despair or prevail? This is a what-if story, taken from the perspective of the game if Kirito and Asuna WERE to actually die on the 75th Floor by Heathcliff's hands, as such, this story loosely follows Hollow Fragment (minus Kirito and Asuna) with a twist.
1. An Inkling of Evil Prologue

**Hey, everyone, I'm back. I've been so busy with life, I haven't found time to put up anything here. However, now, I can post intermittently. Please enjoy this new take on SAO! (I've discarded my old SAO fic lol)**

* * *

_It was supposed to be just a normal day._

_Log in._

_Play for several hours._

_Log back out to get ready for the next concert._

_I didn't expect this._

Sunday, November 6th, 2022.

1140.

Studio One, Onkio Haus Inc.

Ginza District, Chūō City, Tokyo.

The studio was bustling as it always on normal business days. The room in which she was in was one of four studios that were part of that recording company. It was the largest studio in the building, Studio One. It's the room she always uses ever since her popularity skyrocketed over the past six months. In front of her was the microphone she was using to convey the mellow sound of her voice and contributing to the many sounds made within the enclosure that was used to create the final piece: an electronic dance number that was outside of her usual expertise of pop.

Next to her was her fellow idol, a quaint young girl with locks the shade of beige and irides that are not quite the same shade as her own (a piercing gold hue but darker) but close enough that from afar, they would be mistaken as the same shade. That girl was named Nijika Karatachi. She was an aspiring idol two years her senior and it was on the judgment of her manager, a man named Itsuki Taniguchi, that Nijika would debut through a piece of collaborative work with the great Ayanami Shiratsuyu, a well-known child idol who debuted two years prior to this date and who Itsuki is the manager of. She sighed as she turned to Ayanami and bowed to her, "Th-Thank you for taking the time to help me! It means a lot to me!"

Ayanami was unsure what to feel about a girl who was older than her bowing to her with the utmost respect. Instead, she responded by also stammering. "Li-Lift up your head, please, Karatachi-senpai! Don't bow to me, I'm your junior in age!"

"Even so, I must respectfully decline and lower my head," she replied. "With this, I will be able to help my family in our dire time of need. Also, please, drop the 'Senpai'! I know I am older than you but I am far behind in experience in this field and so, I am are ill-deserved to be called as such."

Ayanami gave up.

It was always like this.

An example of this is when she holds events where she meets face to face with fans. When she shakes their hands, people cannot help but bow to her when she shakes it. It was not like she disliked it.

No, it was a sign of respect for her.

However, she believed that there exists a limit and that limit was constantly being stretched to the breaking point.

It was not like she disliked being respected.

Not at all.

It was more like she thinks that she is being shown too much respect to the point of obsession just because of her job. She had always insisted that people who are older than her not bow to her and instead, simply look her in the eyes. However, this simple message would just not go through.

She shook her head as she cleared those thoughts out of her mind. She turned towards the manager who was in the room adjacent to the recording room, compiling the music they had made. "How does it look, Taniguchi-san?"

The man, aged twenty-five, excitedly played with the bridge of his glasses. "Miss Shiratsuyu, Miss Karatachi, this is just the perfect song! I didn't expect a change from your usual music forte would make such a promising jam! I promise you, this will steal the number one spot once it is fully released! Miss Karatachi, I am now sure that you will be sent into stardom!"

Itsuki went and opened the partition door that separated their recording room from the room where the girls were while Nijika reddened at the compliment. "I-I'm just glad that I now have a way to make money to help my parents…"

Ayanami looked sideways at Nijika, questioning why she was so unnecessarily shy at times. It just didn't fit with her outward appearance and her age. Laughing silently to herself, she went through the partition door. "Is there anything else that I am scheduled to do today?"

Itsuki fixed his glasses again and scanned the screen of the tablet he held in hand. "Hmm… " he deliberated. "No, ma'am, your schedule is free until tomorrow at 1040. You have the rest of the day off. Oh, right. You told me to remind you that the official service of that game you wanted to play is ready today."

The girl's amber gold eyes lit up. "Yes!" she exclaimed. "You have no idea how many people gathered in Akihabara for the hard copies four days ago just for the sale of those same copies which were released just yesterday! Taniguchi-san, you must accompany me!"

The man winced as if his next sentence would be painful to say, "Yeah… About that, I'm afraid I'll have to respectfully decline. You know how busy I am as the manager of the Ayanami Shiratsuyu."

The girl that was named rolled her eyes. "People these days… Give them pictures of a cute girl and they go wild."

"I mean, you can't deny that you're exceedingly beautiful for your age," he shrugged. He then added, all the while, smiling wryly, "Let's just hope they actually pay attention to your age. It would hurt my conscience if they, uh… let's say, committed an oopsie while worshipping you."

"U-Um…" Nijika stammered, interrupting the conversation. "Shiratsuyu-sama, are you interested in Sword Art Online as well?"

Ayanami was angered by the additional unnecessary honorific and was about to lash out until she mentioned Sword Art Online. Dropping her conversation with her manager, she wheeled on the beige-haired girl. "You have a copy of SAO too?"

"Ye-Yes…"

"Oh my gods, yes!" Ayanami exclaimed, completely forgetting about her anger concerning the honorific attached to her name. She turned towards Itsuki and said, "Well, since this is my last job, I'm off to the hotel! Karatachi-senpai, you simply must come to the hotel with me!"

"Shiratsuyu-sama, please don't call me 'senpai'…" she groaned.

Ayanami shrugged, wriggling her eyebrows and smiling wryly, "Don't call me 'sama' and we'll be even."

"A-Alright…" she stammered. "Also, mine is an online copy that I got when it released on the thirty-first…"

Ayanami nodded as her eyes lit up before she took the girl's arm and waved goodbye to her manager. "That's amazing! I'm so jealous! Oh, I'll see you tomorrow morning, Taniguchi-san!"

"Have fun, ladies!" the manager replied. He then turned back to his tablet, muttering excitedly about the newest single of Ayanami Shiratsuyu featuring a new singer named Nijika Karatachi that would surely top the music download charts. It was probably irrelevant but in his excitement, the man silently wrote down the name of the song on a Post-It note, "WhiRLPooL", before slapping it on his computer.

* * *

1255

Keio Plaza Hotel, Nishi-Shinjuku District, Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo.

"Lunch directly before playing a game for several hours is the best idea in the world," Ayanami sighed.

"Indeed…" Nijika replied. "Should we go up to the hotel room now?"

"Yeah, the servers are supposed to be up in around five minutes," Ayanami nodded. They both got up from their seats in the dining room of the hotel and marched towards the elevator lobby. Nijika punched the 'UP' key with her finger and the button lit up, imploring for an elevator car to come and transport them up to the thirty-fifth floor. "Have you decided the custom options on your changes to the avatar?"

"Hmm… I've always wanted red hair," Nijika said thoughtfully.

"Red hair?" Ayanami asked. "That's beautiful. I prefer blue hair though."

"Blue hair is also nice…" Nijika nodded. She then put her hand to her face thoughtfully. "You'll disguise yourself, right?"

"Of course!" she huffed indignantly. "Unlike popular opinion, I personally don't like too much attention. It just irks me to be at the center of so many indiscriminate stares."

"I-I see…" Nijika's next thought was interrupted by the sound of the pleasant 'ding' that indicated that a car had arrived. The elevator doors swung open and the girls walked inside. Ayanami was beaten to the punch the last time (she was strangely competitive about little matters like this) so the instant she stepped into the car, she jammed the button with the number "35" on it and leaned back against the walls of the car. The elevator ride up was relaxing, like a gentle wave lapping against the sands of the beach and the music playing was also a soft piano soliloquy. Perhaps it was a piece by Beethoven or an elegy of Mozart. Once the doors opened, the girls walked out of the elevator into an empty hallway where they raced (again due to her strange sense of competition) towards Ayanami's room where they had met previously, before heading to that song recording session.

Ayanami swiped her key and yanked the door open. She remarked, "I've been living in this hotel for two days already and I still can't believe how luxurious it is."

"I agree…" Nijika muttered. She went over to one of the two queen beds which were separated by a table that carried the weight of two computers. One was for Ayanami to use, the other was Nijika's. "You want to trade beds?" Nijika was referring to the fact that she was using the bed closest to the window where the sun would be.

"Hmm. We could just close the curtains…"

"Oh, yeah… Good point." Nijika hits her with another question. "Lights on or off?"

"I prefer the lights off."

"Agreed." Nijika walked into the hallway past the front door before turning to the right to flip the switches while Ayanami occupied the bed to the left side of where she was standing, the one furthest away from the windows. She fell onto the bed, appreciating its softness before turning over to her right to grab the helmet perched on the mahogany dresser that was to send her into the virtual world.

"Hurry up, Nijika!" she called. "I'm going to log in before you!"

"Yeah, yeah, sorry, just going to wash my hands." Ayanami sighed as she thought it would be more efficient to play the game for a few hours then clean up all at once. People do think differently. The girl donned the helmet over her white crown and laid back against the bed, keeping an eye out on the clock on the internal display. It was ticking at 12:59. Nijika finished rinsing her hands and hurried back to the bed (grumbling a bit by how enthusiastic Ayanami was about this) before slapping the helmet on just in time. In one voice, the girls stated, "Link Start!"

The next instant after she uttered those two words, a completely white light blinded Ayanami. The following instant, an array of different-colored columns arranged in a circle shot in her direction, creating the illusion of a tunnel pathway that would lead into the virtual realm. Next, a group of circles with the names of the five senses appeared in her vision, the first two being checked and cleared being touch and sight, and the last three being cleared are the rest of the senses. Now green, the circles assemble at the right side of her vision and they all exist her vision. The first, third, and fifth ones exit her vision by going to the left while the others went right. Finally, a window that displayed the language of which the game is played in, Japanese, appeared.

The screen then changed into a login screen. Using her mind, she entered her username and ID she had used when she used that same NerveGear to participate in the Sword Art Online Closed Beta back in August. After entering the information, yet another window titled "Character Creation" appeared. This time, the infobox below it, stated: "You have character data from the beta test. Would you like to load it?" Internally smiling, Ayanami directed the answer to "yes" before the screen grayed just a tiny bit. Then suddenly, the words, written in black, Welcome to Sword Art Online! flashed in her vision before a bright light engulfed everything.

The next time she opened her eyes, she found herself looking at the ground, at paved cobblestone. She blinked a few times then tried lifting her arms. They obeyed. Her appendages entered her line of vision as she smiled. "Yes… I'm in this world now." She stretched and declared, "It's good to be back!" She looked around as she watched other players appearing out of blue light. She kept a lookout on the players, watching and waiting for a girl with crimson hair to appear. She then broke away from the crowds and decided to seek out two people: a fellow beta tester that she had taken an interest in and Nijika, the maiden with the crimson hair.

She wandered the 'Town of Beginnings' as it was called and searched for a certain boy with a messy haircut and piercing onyx eyes and a girl with red hair. Fortunately as well as unfortunately, she found the latter person first. Nijika was already in the main bazaar, browsing the streets for items (which of course, can't be paid for yet due to them having no money whatsoever). "Nijika!" she called.

The girl turned to face her. "Are you Shira-, I mean, Shi-chan?" Earlier, at lunch, they had agreed on using the nickname, "Shi-chan", in-game when they first met there so as to not have the problem of fans identifying her to be Ayanami Shiratsuyu in real life.

"Yeah," Ayanami replied. "We should probably go and hit the field area. There's a beta tester that I'm particularly interested in and want to meet. I'm sure he would go visit the fields first like a true gamer."

"Let me guess…" Nijika said. "Is it that boy named Kirito?"

Ayanami blinked in confusion several times. "How did you know?"

"Because I'm also relatively interested in him," Nijika replied. "He's apparently the vanguard of the Closed Beta, having led the players up to the tenth floor before it ended. Unfortunately, I didn't participate in the beta myself so I only know the information given to me by my gaming friends."

"I see we have similar tastes…" Ayanami nodded. She then looked past Nijika's red hair and spotted the boy in which she was interested in going into an alley. His hair… size… Yes, everything matches. That is Kirito, Kazuto Kirigaya. "Come, Nijika, I've spotted him." Ayanami grasped her hand and bolted towards the boy. She called out, "Hey! You're Kazuto Kirigaya, aren't you?"

The boy froze as he turned around, looking at the girl who had just addressed him, using his real-life name to boot! Of course, this was enough for him to immediately put himself on guard. He replied slowly, wary of revealing the truth or not. "Yes… I am Kazuto Kirigaya. How did you come to know my name?"

Ayanami replied, "I've done my research, Kirigaya-kun. The man that has led the forefront of the Closed Beta. Of course, I would remember you, as a fellow player who fought on the frontlines!"

Kazuto slowly blinked several times as he thought, She does look vaguely familiar… Her blue shoulder-length hair... Her gold eyes... Her relatively average stature... He then turned his sight to the green cursor above her and made out her name: Kirin. "Oh, Kirin-san, correct?" he said. "I somewhat remember you…"

"Well, the somewhat-remember-me part slightly irks me…" Ayanami playfully responded, resisting the urge to sour her perfect smile. "But no matter. Yes, I am Kirin, a fellow beta tester. However, I believe that we should begin with formalities since I believe it to be unfair that I know your real name but you don't know mine. My real name is Ayanami Shiratsuyu. This here is my friend, Nijika Karatachi. I'm sure you've heard of me."

The boy, two years her elder, yet again blinked several times as he tried to process what she was saying. He moistened his lips as he repeated slowly, "You claim to be that great child idol, Ayanami Shiratsuyu?"

Ayanami nodded. "Yes, but that is beside the point. Since you seem to be an excellent teacher, I'd like you to educate us in the mechanics of this game. I've done my research on you, Kazuto, and oh boy, I'm liking what you can offer."

He then raised his eyebrows. "What can I teach you? Weren't you a frontline fighter during the Closed Beta?"

"Ah, let me rephrase that. I myself do not need teaching but I would like you to help me with teaching my friend as this is her first time."

"Why couldn't you just teach her yourself?"

"As I said, I believe I can do that, however, it is best to have more than one teacher. It never hurts to be prepared, no?"

The boy sighed as he turned sideways, crossing his arms. He closed his eyes and replied, opening just one and looking out of his peripheral vision, "I guess there's no talking my way out of this, huh?"

"Indeed," Ayanami replied.

The boy quietly rolled his eyes and said, "Fine. Follow me."

They were about to run down the alley towards the West Field when someone yelled, "Hey, wait!" Ayanami turned around to find an adult (she estimates him to be around twenty years of age) with spiky red hair like Nijika's but a more unruly shade, closer to that of a brown color. He stopped and rested his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath. "You… You guys seem to know your way around… Are you guys beta testers?"

Nijika shook her head and pointed towards Kazuto. "Yes. I'm the only non-beta tester here among this group of players. We were just discussing partying with him to learn more about the tricks of this game."

"Co-Cool!" he said, still short of breath. "Can I be included? I'm also new."

Both girls looked at Kazuto who was starting to make a face as if he was a very annoyed, cornered lion. He sighed hugely. "Fine."

"I'm Klein, by the way." The man introduced himself. "What about you guys?"

"I'm Kirin," Ayanami replied.

"Rain," Nijika added.

"I'm Kirito," Kazuto finalized. "Now, come on, we have just about the whole day to burn!"

Ayanami, Kirin, and Klein nodded as Kazuto turned around and ran in the direction of the main gate, followed by his party.

* * *

1338

Floor 1: Town of Beginnings, West Field.

"Alright, you newbies!" Kazuto declared. "First thing you need to know is how to use a sword skill. Using normal attacks is fine but sword skills deal more damage with the drawback of catching you in a post-motion delay."

Ayanami wasn't listening. She was already in the motion of activating a sword skill. She had charged the boar monster and had unleashed Slant, the simplest one-handed sword skill, killing it instantly. She then turned around as her body was locked in a short post-motion delay and asked, "I'm sorry, what'd you say?"

Kazuto opened and closed his mouth with nothing escaping from his lips. "We-Well… That was quite the perfect execution of Slant…"

Ayanami shrugged. "Well, I've been here before. My body just remembers how to do it."

"Ye-Yeah, true…"

Nijika had also executed Slant, a bit further away on another boar, albeit a tad more clumsily compared to Ayanami's perfect form. Meanwhile, the man who identified himself as Klein was also as dumbfounded as Kazuto. "I still don't get it… You girls are amazing…"

"I mean, I've played video games before. I'm actually quite good," Ayanami said as she shrugged again, this time a bit more exaggerated and apparently forgetting the fact that she was holding a sword. The blade in hand rose up and nearly impaled Klein.

He hissed, "Excuse me, lady! Watch where you point that blade!"

"Oh, sorry."

"Then why did you ask me to tutor you if you already knew the basics?" Kazuto interrupted.

"I just wanted you to help me get used to the virtual world again since me being me, I wouldn't have much time to do VR after the end of the Closed Beta," she answered. She turned to Nijika and added, "Right, Rain?"

"Yeah, what she said," she echoed.

Kazuto calmly palmed his forehead. "Well then, what time is it…?" He opened his menu and looked at the time. "Hmm… 1340. Do any of you guys have any plans that need attention?"

"Not at all," Nijika and Ayanami replied at the same time.

"Me neither," Klein added.

"Cool," Kazuto nodded. "I can spend the rest of the day tutoring you. We can also spend the rest of the day grinding for levels. I imagine we can reach level five by the end of the day…"

"Four hours of grinding?" Ayanami asked. "Count us in."

1725

All four of them collapsed against the ground.

It had been almost four hours ever since a group of two girls and two boys had begun their sojourn in the fields outside of the Town of Beginnings. They had been running around the grass, searching for monsters to defeat for experience and loot. The first to collapse flat on his back was Klein. However, it was Kazuto that broke the silence by groaning, "Phew… I forget how tiring VR is at times…"

"Hoh?" Ayanami wondered although she wasn't in much better shape herself. "I thought you were a beta tester? Shouldn't you be used to this already?"

"Well, I mean, it's basically simulating real life," he shrugged. "I'm pretty sure fatigue would also be replicated…"

"VR is just so taxing…" Klein moaned. "Like seriously, I'm glad this is VR. If I did this much exercise in real life, I would be drenched in sweat to the point where I legitimately stink like rotten seaweed."

Nijika wrinkled her nose and tried to soften her words. "Now, I believe that comparison was unnecessary to the conversation, Klein-san…"

"So-Sorry…"

Kazuto laughed. "Dude, you're so bad at talking with girls!"

Klein's face reddened. "No-Not like you could do any better!"

Kazuto shrugged. "I have this annoying cousin at home who's constantly bothering me so I have had practice in talking with girls…"

Ayanami raised an eyebrow. "Oh-ho?"

"I'm not sure if family members count though."

"An-Anyways…" Klein announced. "I'm starting to get hungry. I had ordered a pizza and some ginger ale that's supposed to arrive at around this time. I think I'm going to call it a day here."

"Dude, are you serious?" Kazuto laughed. "Like, come on! Might as well play until night!"

"I'm not like you 'pro gamers' who can ignore their bodily functions so easily!" Klein retorted. He stood up and dusted off his jeans. "Anyways, I'm calling it a night. I'll see you tomorrow. Later, guys."

"Yeah, later, Klein," Kazuto said.

Ayanami added, "I'll probably stay on for a while longer. What about you, Rain?"

"I'm also going to stay for a bit longer."

Kazuto waved good-bye. "Alright then, you girls have fun. Klein and I are going to depart now. I have to deal with some family issues after this."

Klein then asked, "Hey, Kirito… Where's the log-out button?"

"What?" he asked. "Seriously, you're asking that?" Kazuto waved his right hand in the air, invoking the white menu to open. He scrolled through the main options of Inventory/Equipment, Friends/Guild, Communications, and Maps/Quests before clicking on the Settings. "It should be right here…" His voice trailed off as the button that should've been the logout button was completely blank. The Settings menu is supposed to have three options: Options, which was used to make changes to anything about the player, Help, which was used to call a GM (game master) on the left screen, and Logout. However, nothing was written in there. "That's weird."

"A glitch?" Ayanami suggested.

"Probably," Kazuto agreed. "I'll try calling a moderator."

Kazuto proceeded to fiddle with the menu for a bit while Ayanami and Nijika conversed among themselves. "If we can't log out…" Nijika started.

"We won't be able to make it to our concerts," Ayanami concluded. "I'm honestly not sure what to feel about this."

Kazuto announced. "Nope, the contact system isn't working either. What's going o-"

He was cut off by the sudden manifestation of light coming from his body. The same light enveloped everyone else. "Forced teleportation?!" Kazuto forced out before he disappeared from Ayanami's vision. Ayanami herself was blinded and she also disappeared.

When she opened her eyes, she was back in the Teleport Gate Plaza in the Town of Beginnings. Nijika appeared to her left while Kazuto and Klein appeared to her right. "What the-" Kazuto began.

"It looks like every other player was also forcefully transported here," Ayanami concluded.

"What's going on?" Klein asked.

"Maybe it has something to do with that?" Kazuto replied, pointing at the sky. It was small and hard to spot but anyone with good vision would've been able to see it. It was a flattened red hexagon with the word "Warning" written inside. Suddenly, it multiplied like an uncontrolled bacteria, infecting the sky and dyeing it red.

Once it had covered the entire sky, the lines which connect the polygons to each other begin to leak out a crimson fluid. "What the…" Klein stuttered. "The sky is bleeding…" The crimson fluid settled into the vague figure of a humanoid before solidifying, taking the appearance of a shinigami.

It held its scythe up and spoke in a deep voice, "Hello and welcome to my creation. I am Akihiko Kayaba, the creator of Sword Art Online. I have called you here to discuss the issue with the logout function." Some of the players began to relax but it was way too early. The reaper continued, "I would like to inform you that the missing logout button is not a glitch. It is a function of this game, Sword Art Online. You may not be able to log out."

At that, people began to complain but they were silenced again by the reaper. "I would also like to inform you that I have already given information about how I will conduct this game. Logging out is impossible and if someone attempts to log you out forcefully by removing your NerveGear, it will, unfortunately, result in your death as the NerveGear unleashes powerful radiation in order to microwave your brain. However, people have ignored this announcement of mine in the real world and have already caused the death of two hundred thirteen players." The reaper called out some files as they circled around his person, showing off the news of the story that is being dubbed as the SAO Incident. "Anyways, the only way of escape is to clear all 100 floors of this floating castle, Aincrad. I should also mention that I have not included the respawn function in this game either. This means that if you lose all your HP, your avatar will be deleted and at the same time, the NerveGear will microwave your brain."

It was only stunned silence now. The players were just too surprised to form words, form anything. The reaper took the silence as the cue to continue. "That is all I have to say. However, I have left a certain gift in your inventories."

Suddenly, every single players' menus opened and ejected a handheld mirror. Ayanami took ahold of it and was about to question what it was for when she was blinded for the third time that day with blue light. When the light cleared, the crimson eclipse of the sky had gone and the specter had also disappeared. Ayanami turned to her left and looked at Nijika…

No.

She was real.

Her appearance was the same as it was in real life. "This… This isn't good…" Ayanami muttered.

A female player turned around, utterly confused. She was about to scream in fear when she spotted Ayanami. Her scream of fear turned into a squeal of adoration as she yelled, "Guys! Guys! It's Ayanami Shiratsuyu! It's the Ayanami Shiratsuyu!" Everyone turned their heads and a wave of cries spread through the players. What _should've_ been wails of fear quickly turned into shouts of admiration that allowed the players to momentarily forget their current predicament. Ayanami immediately cursed under her breath.

"Oh my gods, it is her!"

"No way… That Shiratsuyu is playing SAO?"

"She's so young…"

"Well, she is a child idol…"

"I love her music!"

_Shiratsuyu?_

Meanwhile, a bit further into the crowd, there was a boy who was late on the train. The name was familiar, ringing a bell in his mind. 'Ayanami Shiratsuyu' was what that female's voice had cried out, filling his ears with the familiar delight of he himself saying that same exact name. _WHAT!?_ he asked himself, barely able to contain his excitement. His eyes scanned the crowd in the direction he had heard the excited screams. However, the people were swarming like ants surrounding an anthill. As he moved forward, pushing past player after player, he only managed to catch a glimpse: a glimpse of the girl's snow-white hair that caught the setting sun just right to caress his eyes with the soft hue of silver light, with her intelligent yellow eyes that resembled liquid gold forever trapped within a vortex of infinite depth and her skin that shone with youthful vigor. Ayanami Shiratsuyu… His Goddess, his beloved, now within his reach… However, within that one short and surreal moment, she hadn't even glanced to him. She was preoccupied with trying to push back her crazed fans.

Ayanami tried backing away but there was nowhere she could back away to. She turned to her right and looked straight into Kazuto's eyes. His eyes asked the silent question, _You weren't lying…_

_Why would I?_ she replied.

The other boy looking at her with crazed eyes noticed that her vision was still not looking in his direction. Instead, they were… they were on him. A man he had not seen before, her eyes lit up as she stared at him like she was… interested in him. The boy felt something flare in his chest, a feeling he could only describe as a thousand heated needles being pushed into his heart. He did not understand why she would be looking in his direction much less with that interested twinkle in her eyes. He studied the other boy. He was nothing special: he was not good-looking nor was he special in any way, which ignited an instant fire of hatred towards that black-haired boy named Kirito.

Klein stammered, "O-Oh… Wow… This was a plot twist I did not see coming…" Klein had first claim on her hand. "I've been wanting to meet you! I didn't expect us to meet in here in this prison though…"

With that one sentence, Klein had unintentionally flipped the mood of the players. They soon returned to reality and realized that this virtual world had now become their reality. Kazuto yelled above the confusion. "Guys, it is now or never! All of the stuff here will be taken by the new people soon enough. We need to head to the next town, Horunka Village. I'll guide you. Are you in or out?"

Klein winced then shook his head. "Yeah, I'm going to have to say no to that, man… I mean, considering that we are now trapped in a literal death sentence, I'm going to have to help my friends calm down and adapt. As much as I want to go with you, Kirito, my dude, I just can't. I have an obligation to my friends who accompanied me. Anyways, it was a fun first day. I hope we meet again though! Try not to die!" Klein waved as he ran away, forcing himself through the panicking crowd.

Kazuto nodded in sympathy and respect before turning towards Ayanami and Nijika. "Well? What about you two?"

"Please," she begged. "Take us away. Anywhere away from this attention." Nijika promptly nodded, giving her full approval although a silent one to Ayanami's decision.

"Fine," the swordsman replied. "Come on! We're off to Horunka!" He turned around and bolted away through the streets into the sunset, not waiting for the girls to catch up. Ayanami and Nijika looked at each other and nodded. They both ran after the swordsman, chasing his footsteps.

The other boy panicked, noticing that this moment was the only opportune moment that he would have to be with Ayanami. This would be the ideal chance to forever cement their relationship together, so he chooses to sprint after the girls and that black-haired boy. His emotions were a melting pot of danger. His jealousy was so thick that it was palpable. As his feet hit the ground, the drums of fate began to sound.

_And so, it began._

_The game of death._

_Plus… a certain boy's obsession…_

_My memories of that fateful day flood my mind as I watch the fight..._


	2. An Inkling of Evil Chapter I Part I

Eighteenth Day of the Month of the Ash Tree, 2024, according to the Aincrad Calendar (the equivalent of October 18th, 2024).

1330 AST.

En route to the Labyrinth Safe Area, 74th Floor.

She was alone.

She liked to be alone.

It's been two years and one month since this dastard game closed the gates of escape and entrapped ten thousand players in the jaws of death. The time within Sword Art Online traveled at the same pace as time in the real world. Despite this, the game has its own calendar that she was honestly intrigued with known as the Aincrad Calendar and the subsequent clock used being Aincrad Standard Time.

In that two-year timeframe, more than three thousand players had failed to evade the jaws of death. The remaining six thousand have been working their butts off in order to survive, leveling one of what seems to be an unlimited selection of skills. Of course, she was one of them. She was a member of that guild, the Knights of the Blood, which had arisen after a particularly grueling incident on the twenty-fifth floor that she did not plan to recall.

This time around, she was investigating the Labyrinth of the seventy-fourth floor under direct orders from the commander himself when he received information that his vice-commander was running off with a solo player. Of course, she knew said solo player personally… She pretended to not know about the player, saying that she only knew rumors of the so-called 'Black Swordsman' when the mission was assigned to her.

And now, here she was wandering the Labyrinth alone.

However, this was not so as a male voice shouted, "Major General Kirin!"

_Oh, great…_ The girl who was labeled as Kirin sighed. She feared she knew who was calling out to her. She slowly turned around and looked at the teenage boy that had invoked her, confirming her fears of his identity. "Nautilus…"

"Dear God, Major General!" he scolded. "Please don't run away by yourself! You become a child when you act this way!"

Behind him, a girl with a white hat appeared and reprimanded, "Nautilus, don't go scolding our team leader like that!"

"Bu-But, Yuna!" he complained, pouting like a child. "Just because she's ranked above me doesn't mean she can slack off! I'm still older than her! By like, four years!"

"Yes, yes, I know that," she replied. "Still, you can't just scold her! I'm also older than her. However, I have respect for her since she is strong. Strong enough to compete with the Lieutenant General, Vice-Commander Asuna."

Nautilus opened his mouth but nothing came out. He then closed it and sighed, "Alright, fine." The eighteen-year-old boy took a deep breath as he tried to calm himself. He then asked, "What are you doing here?"

"Relaxing," Kirin replied. "It's tiring going Labyrinth-diving, you know that?"

"Well, I'm still raring to go…" Nautilus shrugged. He then got an evil twinkle in his eyes. "Wait, could it be… Ah, I get it now. It must suck to be so young."

Kirin immediately blushed as the boy had poked fun at her size. She drew the sword, a one-handed sword named Breakwind which looked like a cross between a katana and a two-handed sword, at her side and bristled the point under Nautilus's throat. "Sa-Say that again!" she squealed. "I-I'll off your head!"

Nautilus raised his arms in surrender although his face muscles were still warring over whether they should pull up the corner of his mouth or not. "Sorry, sorry!" he replied.

"Nautilus!" Yuna cried.

Kirin realized what she was doing and slowly sheathed her sword. "Ahem…" she cleared her throat. "So-Sorry about that. Don't make fun of my age next time."

"Yeah, yeah, fine," Nautilus replied. "So… Are we stopping for a lunch break?"

Yuna interrupted, "Well. If it's lunch you're wanting, I have you covered."

"Yuna, I must say," Kirn began. "As fellow idols, we sure think alike. I've also taken the time to prepare a lunch."

"Oh?" Yuna asked, raising an eyebrow. "What did you bring to the table today, Miss Kirin?"

"Something that will defeat your mindless cooking, Miss Yuna," Kirin replied, seething.

The origins of this weird rivalry over the culinary arts can be traced back to a certain happening three days ago. That same group of three, Kirin, Yuna, and Nautilus, were taking a break in the open fields of the forty-seventh floor after doing a hunt for the Labyrinth and given permission of leave to relax by the commander. Upon arriving in the flower fields, Nautilus immediately collapsed and relaxed on the ground. "Ugh…" he moaned. "I'm so tired!"

"Well, we've been worked to the bone nonstop for the past few days," Kirin shrugged. "General Heathcliff is nice to let us off for the time being. On that note, who's hungry?" She smiled as she began to open her inventory.

"Wait, Kirin-chan, you have a cooking skill too?" Yuna asked.

"Yeah, why?" she replied, stopping short from removing a picnic basket from her storage. "Wait… Senpai, you have a cooking skill too?"

"Yup…" Yuna took out a picnic basket and opened it up while Kirin also took out one of her own baskets. Yuna looked over in Kirin's basket. "Huh, we both made sandwiches."

"They're the easiest and the quickest to make," Kirin said, relatively matter-of-factly. "However… Since we made two batches, it will probably be too much."

"Nah, not at all," Nautilus boasted, sitting up into a cross-legged position and beating his chest with his right hand proudly. "I'll eat them all! After all, I'm quite sure my stomach is larger than the both of yours combined."

"Uh…" Kirin blinked. "I guess I'll share…? I mean, I also have a large stomach. Eating should have a unique skill that gives cool buffs." Ayanami was saying this while already shoving three sandwiches into her mouth.

Nautilus yelped, "He-Hey!"

"Ladies first," Kirin replied, her mouth full.

"Tch," he muttered. "I won't lose!" Nautilus grabbed two sandwiches in each hand, a pair of each from Ayanami's and Yuna's baskets.

"Hey!" Yuna complained.

"What? It's a man's duty to try the food of the girls, right?" he said. He shoved Yuna's into his mouth. "Oooooh, this is delicious!" he squealed. "Yuna, your cooking is as good as ever!"

The girl blushed and lowered the brim of her hat to hide the fact that her face was heating up as she mumbled, "Re-Really?"

Kirin asked between bites, "What about mine? Not like I care if you like it anyways."

Nautilus swallowed the first sandwich before going at his right hand. He shoved it into his mouth as well. "Hmm…" he thought. "It's also really good. I wonder how both would taste like together…" This time, he opened his mouth up extremely wide and swallowed both. He exclaimed, "Jeez, you girls are going to kill me with how delicious your food is!"

Kirin shrugged and looked away, although she was relatively happy inside that her food was liked by another person. "Well, I never gave you permission to eat out of my basket…"

Nautilus laughed. "Oh, come on, Team Leader!" He then took out a canteen of water and drank it down. "Bwah!" he said, sighing in satisfaction. He then put the canteen down and introduced a relatively serious topic. "Oh, speaking of unique skills… Team Leader, you have that Songstress skill, don't you?"

"Yeah."

"Is it in any way related to Yuna's Chant?"

Yuna interjected, "It should be. We both had the Chant extra skill since the second floor. Kirin-chan, didn't you max out your Chant skill?"

"Yeah, two days before you did…" Kirin replied. "If I recall correctly, I maxed it out last year on October 1st…"

"Don't you mean November 8th?" Yuna corrected. "I completed my own Chant skill two days after you did."

"Ah, yeah, sorry," Kirin apologized, silently cursing her lapse in memory. "Anyways, when I checked my skill list again after you told me you completed your own Chant skill, it just popped up: Songstress."

"Didn't we hold a concert on the 9th in congratulations for you completing the Chant skill?" Yuna recalled.

Nautilus nodded his head, "Yes, indeed. We held the concert on the seventeenth floor, right?"

"The floor is literally based on Akihabara and yet, they gave it a Western name…" Ayanami stated. "What is Kayaba thinking? Anyways, during that concert, we sang an original piece we composed together, "A Cloud's Silver Lining", yeah?"

Yuna nodded. "Yup. Kirin-chan, you and I can really synchronize!"

Ignoring the praise as it was really unnecessary for the conversation, Kirin thought, "I speculate that I had to clear a second condition besides completing my Chant skill in order to invoke the unlocking of the Songstress unique skill," Ayanami continued. "I believe that singing once after completing the skill is the last condition."

"I see…" Yuna said, crestfallen. "It kinda sucks that you're the one who gets a unique skill, Kirin-chan."

"Well, I mean considering that I am on the frontline nearly every day while you guys go around the castle, motivating the other players, could be a factor," Ayanami shrugged. "That plus the fact that I am nine levels above you two."

"Just because you're in the ninety's doesn't mean anything!" Nautilus said indignantly. "We'll catch up eventually!"

"Uh-huh…" Kirin replied skeptically.

"Oh, by the way…" Yuna began. "Eiji! Who do you think is the better cook?!" In a fit of apparent jealousy due to the boy's statement of the sandwiches being equally delicious regardless of who made them, she had invoked the boy's real name which was Eiji Nochizawa, emphasizing the graveness of the "insult" that Yuna thought he had thrown at her.

"Wha-?" he said. "'Who's the better cook'? Uh… I… I honestly don't know… They both tasted equally delicious…"

Yuna pouted and she pointed at Kirin. "Kirin-chan, I won't let you steal Eiji! He's mine and mine only!"

Kirin simply shrugged although a smug smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. "I'm not interested in him anyways. I mean, he looks cool and all but he's just not my type."

"Then why are you trying to impress him with your cooking?!"

"I'm not. I'm simply cooking my best for myself."

"You won't get away with this!"

In the present, Kirin shook her head as she recalled those events. Hoping to further escape from those idyllic memories, she then turned back around and she saw two of her favorite people. "Kirito! Asuna!"

The seated onyx-haired boy turned his head and saw them. He smiled as he waved, "Kirin? Even Nautilus and Yuna too? What are you guys doing here?"

Nautilus immediately put on a guarded face. "We're here on orders to investigate the Labyrinth because a certain someone has been constantly striking out alone with a boy."

That comment seemed directed directly towards Asuna. In response, she winced. "Kyaa, please protect me, Kirito-kun!" Asuna whined, jokingly attempting to hide behind him.

"Dude, seriously, Nautilus," Kirito said, shaking his head. "Can you not scold her that much? Your eyes are literally giving your intentions away."

"Oh yeah?" he replied. He walked over and got into the boy's face which was weird considering that Nautilus had to look down at him since the latter was sitting down. "Why are you in the safe area too? Aren't you on your job?"

Kazuto rolled his eyes and stood up. "We are just taking a break to eat lunch but by all means, if it is a fight you want, I'll give you one."

Nautilus growled as he put his hand on his sword. He was about to draw it when Yuna clapped her hand on top of his. "Now, now, guys, let's not have a fight here! By the way, since you guys plan to eat lunch, do you want to hold a group picnic?"

Asuna's eyes lit up. "That sounds great!"

Kirin also put her hand on Nautilus, however, hers went on the boy's left elbow. Silently bleeding murder, she whispered, "Stand down, Nautilus… Let's just eat lunch then return to hunting for the boss room."

Nautilus still had the look of a lion ready to pounce but he settled down because the anger of a dragon is nothing compared to that of a lion. "Fine. I still won't allow you to sneak off with the vice-commander any more, you got that, Kirito?"

"Hey, man, Asuna's her own person," he replied. "You can't really stop her. And besides, we're still doing our jobs of searching the Labyrinth. Aren't we the first ones to delve inside here?"

Nautilus gave up on arguing. Instead, he sat down and asked, "What did you two make today?"

Kirin smiled smugly. "Today, I cooked some ramen. Or at least, I think it is ramen."

"Oh?" Asuna asked. "Kirin-shi, do you have a completed cooking skill too?"

"Yeah, both Yuna and I have one."

"Awesome! I'm not the only expert cook here!" Asuna smiled. "Well, I just brought some sandwiches."

"I got some sushi," Yuna interjected.

Kirito's mouth opened as he drooled, "Oh my gods, this is going to be good. Thanks, Asuna! Thanks, Kirin! Thanks, Yuna!"

Nautilus had forgotten his anger towards Kirito. He shouted, "Alright, let's eat!"


	3. An Inkling of Evil Chapter I Part II

At around the same time in the Black Iron Palace, the headquarters of the Aincrad Liberation Force, located in the Town of Beginnings on Floor 1…

There was a certain man seated in his chair. In fact, it shouldn't even be called a chair. It could be considered a throne. The man seated on it was one in his late twenty's. His wavy brown hair that adorned the crown of his head was combed back in a military-style cut. He spoke to the man in full armor kneeling in front of him. "So, Corvatz, why are you here?"

"Yes, Sir Thinker," he replied, still kneeling. "I would like to request that you send us to the frontlines. There's been news that the Labyrinth has been discovered again by the Knights of the Blood."

The man called Thinker nodded. "Right… Why do you want to head to the front lines if the most powerful guild in all of SAO is already on the job?"

"That's exactly it, my liege!" Corvatz was speaking in slightly broken Japanese. He was apparently half-Spanish, half-Japanese. His Spanish accent was still there even though he used the native language of the other players. He continued, "I do believe that the Knights of the Blood is the most powerful guild. However, I cannot help but have a nagging feeling that the commander isn't who he seems but that is not the reason why. I want to be allowed to visit the frontlines so I can check and make sure the Knights aren't slacking off in their duties."

Thinker scratched his chin. "Hmm…"

The rather well-endowed woman standing behind Thinker let herself be heard. "You should let them go, my dear. Corvatz and the others have been holed up here for a while because of those Knights taking the initiative on most floors."

"Alright, if you say so, Yulier," he relented. "Corvatz, you have my permission to visit the seventy-fourth floor's Labyrinth. Perhaps, the Knights will take most of the rewards but at least, we will have the ability to say that we did something during that battle."

"Understood, my liege." The Spanish man proceeded to get up from his knees and bowing one last time to Thinker before he marched out, his armor clanging noisily.

* * *

"Alright!" Nautilus burped. "That was some nice food!"

"Indeed," Asuna added. "Yuna, Kirin-shi, your cooking is also quite good."

"Well, I mean, we both have completely mastered our cooking skills so…"

"Yeah, that's true."

"Enough of that!" Kirito announced, changing the topic. "Now that we're full... Nautilus, Yuna. Want to help us search for the boss room?"

Nautilus stood up and held out his hand to Kirito, intending to help him stand up. "Sounds good."

Kirin stood up and held her own hand out towards Asuna who gladly accepted it. "Alright, no one has forgotten anything, right?" she stated.

"Besides the fact that our food has gone into the pits of Tartarus that is our stomachs," Nautilus joked, "Not at all, Lieutenant General Asuna."

Asuna shook her head and took Kirito's hand. "Alright, let's move out then."

Kirito muttered something unintelligible as he disliked engaging in physical contact, however, he allowed himself to remain connected with Asuna as he had slowly gotten used to it although he still relatively disliked staying in physical contact. "Be on guard," he warned. "There's no telling what we might encounter on the other side of the safe zone." The quintet kept an eye on each other as they walked through the invisible wall that separated the safe area from the dangers of the Labyrinth. Kirito's fears were proven correct because on the other side of the barrier, four meters away, an army of Demonic Servants led by a single Lizardman Lord chattered aggressively. Of course, they would. They had discovered their prey. "Hoh, already an ambush? This ought to be a nice exercise before we hit the boss. What do you say, guys?"

Asuna smirked and slowly palmed the hilt of her rapier. "Who do you think you're talking to, Kirito-kun?"

Kirito smirked back as he turned his eyes towards the others. Nautilus snorted, "Please."

"I'll be in the vanguard," Kirin said simply.

"I shall support," Yuna added.

"Alright, Asuna and I will take on the boss!" Kirito announced. "Nautilus, Kirin, go and decimate the others!"

"As you wish," she sang. "Although, even without you telling me, I would've done so~." Kirin, being the fastest of them all (in terms of agility, not reaction time, although her reactions are almost on par with Kirito's), charged directly into the fray with the devastating Vorpal Strike sword skill, which lights the sword in a fiery crimson light.

"Kirin!" Kirito yelped, his voice barely heard over the massive sound, relatable to that of turning on a commercial airplane's jet engine, released by the sword skill.

"I'm fine," she replied. She had impaled a Demonic Servant using that skill and had broken through the lines of the enemy with its sheer power. She had also used that same Demonic Servant's body to injure the others using its body as a blunt force. The Demonic Servant impaled on her sword shimmered for an instant before exploding into particles. In that instant, the other monsters recovered from their 'shock' and proceeded to attack her all at once as she was unable to move due to the sword skill's lengthy post-motion delay. "Oh my," she teased. "So much love for me. However… Kirito, Asuna, Nautilus, Yuna! Shut your ears!"

They all widened their eyes in response and slapped their palms over their auricles just before Kirin's voice rang out in a powerful C8 note, one that would induce paralysis in whoever and whatever heard it. Although her body was frozen due to the post-motion delay, as long as she was able to move her lips, she'd be able to unleash the skills of Chant and the stronger ones gained from her Unique Skill, Songstress.

As expected, all of the monsters dropped their weapons and shrieked as the god-awful sound shattered their eardrums. Able to move again, Kirin gave the thumbs up, smiling hugely which prompted everyone to remove their hands from their ears. Asuna groaned, "Jeez… I still can't get used to that Sonic Boom skill…" Readying her rapier, she stepped into the fray, summoning power which discolored her Lambent Light a sickly green before unleashing a high-speed attack which traced the outline of a triangle starting from the top.

"Delta Attack?" Nautilus surmised, his eyes widening just as his field of view cleared due to the death of a Demonic Servant he dispatched with Rage Spike (it was thanks to Yuna that he was able to kill it with such a weak sword skill because she had already damaged it with Infinity, a dagger sword skill). "This is the first time I'm seeing it in person…"

Asuna smirked, "Surprised, aren't you? I haven't shown Kirito this skill yet."

"It's pretty powerful…" he admitted. "It's an area attack, too. The range of the skill makes it into an area of effect."

"Indeed," Asuna stated, as her body stiffened in a post-motion delay. "Kirito!"

"Yeah, yeah, I got it," Kirito muttered as the Lizardman Lord attacked him using a sword skill that Kirin identified to be Fell Crescent, a rather advanced scimitar sword skill, which the system calls the One-Handed Curved Sword. She knew of this because she had the weapon skill in her inventory although she never used it as she has no intention in increasing her mastery with the curved blade. Kirin watched as Kazuto's sword glowed sky blue as he deflected the monster's attack. She kept her eyes trained on him, just in case he needed any assistance, as the boy held his sword in hand and slashed at the monster's abdomen, opening a line from right to left. He then spun counterclockwise to slash at the monster's left side before revolving in the opposite direction to strike its back. His final strike concluded with a slash on the monster's right side and blue lines taking the shape of a square exploded outwards from the monster's body which proceeded to detonate into particles as it died.

Kirin wanted to ask a question but she was constantly being bothered by a group of Demonic Servants. Sighing, she dodged a sword before stepping back a few paces and getting on her knees. Bending forward slightly and keeping her sword hanging loosely in her right-hand grip, her sword glowed a bright pale blue as she charged forward. Judging from the scream, Kirin had blindly attacked a Demonic Servant with Rage Spike. Her strike killed the monster, despite the skill being a basic one and insignificantly weak compared to the other sword skills. Finally finding the time, she asked, "That's Horizontal Square?"

"Yeah," Kazuto replied. "As you can see, it's basically a square. I mean, there's also Vertical Square but I like using Horizontal Square more. Anyways, you better be glad that monster you attacked was already low in HP. Were it not for that, I'm pretty sure you would've sustained some damage. Rage Spike is a super weak skill. Heck, Sonic Leap is more useful since you can jump into the sky with it."

"Heh," Kirin snickered. "I mean, it's a very simple sword skill despite the drawback of it being weak. Anyways, if Horizontal Square is your specialty, then I'll gladly make Vertical Square my specialty." She turned to face the final Demonic Servant, which did not attack her until then because it was still reeling from her Sonic Boom skill, and she felt her eyes leaking pure murder against the monsters that were part of the colossal obstacle that was preventing their escape to the outside world. Her sword glowed an indigo hue and gripping it tightly, she made four tightly-knit cuts into the monster's body, however, from a forty-five-degree angle in relation to the ground. Similar to Kirito's Horizontal Square, Kirin's Vertical Square radiated an indigo square before the monster disappeared with a screeching wail.

Kirito was silent as he watched Ayanami sheathe her sword after her deed had been done. "Tch…" he muttered. "You're tempting me to make that skill my signature again."

"Haha," Kirin giggled. "Well, now that that's done and over with, let's head on over to the boss room."

Kirito dug into his inventory and yanked out an azure teleport crystal, showing it to everyone who was present. "Alright, guys, you have your crystals ready?"

Kirin nodded, pulling out her own lavender crystal. "We're all ready to go."

"Alright, we're going to just take a small peek at the boss to gather information," Kirito reaffirmed. Everyone else nodded as Kirito led them down the dank corridors weaving past obsidian walls. After several seconds of walking with their arms out considering that they could be attacked at any time, Kirito spots the giant obsidian doors of the boss room and holds up his arm, silently ordering his friends to stop.

"Crystals?" Asuna prompted.

"Yeah, we got ours," Nautilus replied. "Sheesh, you worry too much, Lieutenant General Asuna, Monsieur Kirito."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," he said. "I'm opening the doors now." Kirito gently laid his hands on the door and used his body weight to shove it open. The massive obsidian entryway groaned as it creaked open, the resonant sound echoing angrily across the room. The five players inched into the room, their senses on high alert as they scanned the room for the boss. No one freaked out as braziers set high with the help of columns ignited with blue fire. A small moat at farthest edges of the circular boss room also ignited blue, throwing out an eerie azure glow throughout the room.

It wasn't long before they spotted the boss and it definitely was not pretty. "A demon?!" Yuna yelped.

Kirito's hand immediately palmed the hilt of his sword resting on his back. He scrutinized the boss as the red cursor of the boss glowed to reveal its name, The Gleam Eyes, as well as its four HP bars. The monster roared, forcing its muscles to be as taut as ropes and rippling up its towering form. The boss's skin was a deep blue and its eyes glinted with the same blue-white hue, matching the tint of the flames in its boss room. Its head, resting atop its thick chest, was that of a goat's rather than a human's and had an elongated snout with thick, twisted horns stretching backward from the sides of its head. Kirito forced his vision away from the monster's upper section and glanced on its lower half, noticing the bestial legs covered in long, navy-hued hair. "We've seen the boss! Run!"

However, the boss had other ideas. Screeching, it drew its massive weapon and charged the group of players. "Out, out, out!" Asuna ordered. The players fled the boss room and ran back down the corridors that they had just mapped en route towards the boss room. The blue demon wailed in anger as it watched its prey get away.


	4. An Inkling of Evil Chapter I Part III

"How many tanks do you think we'll need, Kirito…?"

It was Asuna that broke the deathly silence that had settled upon the players after experiencing the aura of hopelessness resulting from the apparent impossibility of the current boss at hand. Kirito sighed as he replied, "We'll probably need an entire party of tanks, judging from the size of that weapon…"

Kirin added, "Should we also have parties with completed Parry skills too? That weapon is going to be an absolute pain in the ass to handle."

Nautilus nodded. "Agreed. We would also need several parties with pure DPS ability. He looks pretty tanky himself."

"A party of healers too," Yuna interjected.

"That would be our job," Kirin stated. "We're the only ones who don't need items for healing. We could simply use our voices to invoke HP regeneration."

Kirito beamed and slapped Kirin on the back. "I'm counting on your support, Kirin. Yours as well, Yuna."

Yuna blushed slightly and nodded, "Okay."

Kirito was sitting cross-legged on the ground, leaning against the wall, before he put his hands on his knees and pushed up, stretching his legs before standing up. "Alright, let's head back and organize a raiding party. I'm sure you'll need to report to your bosses."

"Boss," Asuna corrected. "I'm technically a boss here too considering that I'm the second-in-command of the Knights of the Blood."

"Yes, yes, Asuna-san," Kirito shrugged. "Sorry, I forgot."

Asuna rolled her eyes as she stood up. "Let's get going. We should be able to clear this floor before the daylight fades."

The quintet was about to exit the safe area when the barrier between the Labyrinth and the safe area rippled, ejecting about twenty to thirty players in full armor. Kirito recognized the emblem of the flag when the player at the front, a red sash adorning his chest, yelled, "Troop, halt!"

The sound that followed could only be described as a gigantic monster having let out a content sigh after devouring a meal, perhaps. All the other armored men collapsed to the ground, clearly exhausted. Kirito broke the silence that settled over his group. "You're from the Aincrad Liberation Force, aren't you?"

"You speak the truth, fellow player," the head player stated as he removed his helmet and tucked it under his armpit. "My name is Corvatz. I am the first commander of the Aincrad Liberation Force, serving directly under Sir Thinker. It may be rude of me to ask you of this but have you good sirs and ma'ams discovered the boss room yet?"

Kirito looked at Asuna to his left and looked at Kirin to his right, wondering if it was a good idea to reveal that they had. Asuna shrugged while Kirin just smiled. He cleared his throat. "Yes, we have. We were about to head back to discuss and plan for the boss raid."

"No need for that, good sir," he replied, his Spanish accent shoving its way through his relatively perfect Japanese. "We of the Aincrad Liberation Force shall defeat this boss alone."

Asuna shook her head. "You can't do that, sir! The boss this time around is not a simple one!"

"So they say for every boss," he replied. "But we have prevailed through them all!"

Kirito rebuked him. "Not today, sir. This boss is not like the other bosses. It's a blue-eyed demon!"

Corvatz raised an eyebrow. "Oh? This might be interesting. Alright, men, get up! We are going on an expedition!"

Immediately, complaints arose. "Aw, come on!"

"Are you serious?"

"You're going to _kill_ us before we get to the boss room to quite possibly _actually die_!"

Nautilus marched over to Corvatz and stared him in the face. "Sir, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to turn back. The current strength of this boss is like nothing we've ever seen before. A strategy meeting is imperative!"

The aging Spanish man simply shook his head and pushed Nautilus away. "Aren't you simply just going to steal all the glory for yourselves again? Not on my watch! The Aincrad Liberation Force is the main driving force behind the motivations of players holed up on the first floors! We must keep them motivated by clearing a floor ourselves!"

Asuna stretched her hand out and placed it on the man's shoulder. "Sir, we insist that you _stand down_."

Corvatz shook her off and yelled, "On towards the boss room! To victory!"

The cheer was repeated among the players although much quieter considering that they were clearly more spent than their commander. They got up and left the safe area, heading towards the boss room. Kirito sighed. "Should we tail them?"

"Probably…" Nautilus agreed.

The five were about to follow the fading footsteps of the Aincrad Liberation Force army when a familiar voice yelled, "Hey! What have we here but my most favorite group of friends!"

Whirling around, Kirin saw the lanky frame of a brown-haired bandanna-clad man whose teeth were showing in a winning smile. "Klein-san!"

"Well, well, look who it is!" he said smugly. "Most famous player in Sword Art Online, Ayanami Shiratsuyu! Oh wait, should I have said, 'Kirin' instead?"

"Call me either one…" she sighed, her attitude suddenly muting. "Not like I can garner any more attention than I can already garner."

Klein looked past her and trampled Kirito in a bear hug before snaking his way around him and using his knuckles to roughly scratch at his hair. "How's my lone wolf doing?" He then turned to see Asuna and stopped. "Wait, why are you with the Flash?"

Asuna raised an eyebrow. "Are you saying that it is wrong of me to be partied with Kirito?"

"Uh… No, not at all…" he stammered. He looked warily at his other guild members who all proceeded to be suddenly interested in anything but their guild master.

The silent Yuna piped up, "Excuse me, but we need to split in two."

"Ah, yeah," Asuna agreed. "Klein-san, would you mind going towards the boss room? There's an army from the Aincrad Liberation Force currently attempting to clear the floor alone."

"Let me guess," he interrupted. "You're going to head back to your headquarters and conduct a strategy meeting."

"Spot on."

"Ugh…" he sighed. "Alright, fine. Can't abandon my best friends, eh?"

"Let us go along with them," Nautilus interjected. "If worse comes to worst, it might be possible for us to buy enough time for you to prepare a boss raid team, Lieutenant General."

"Alright," she replied. "I give you permission."

Nautilus nodded and walked over to Klein, holding out his hand. "The name is Nautilus. I am a Lieutenant Colonel within the ranks of the Knights of the Blood. Glad to work with you."

Taken aback by this sudden formality, Klein stuttered in reply, "I-I'm Klein. I'm the guild master of Fuurinkazan."

Although difficult, Yuna worked up the courage to also introduce herself. "I am Yuna and I'm a Major, ranked below Nautilus," she said, blushing.

"Nice to meet you, Yuna-chan," he replied. "Alright, boys, let's get moving!"

However, all rational thought was extinguished when the most awfully gruesome scream split the air. "What was that?!" Kirito yelped.

"It's coming from the direction of the boss room!" Nautilus informed.

Asuna yelled, "Come on, hurry! We need to prepare a strategy meeting!"

"Asuna, there's no time for that!" Kirin retorted. "We have to get back there _now_!"

"I agree with Kirin!" Kirito added. "Come on!" Taking off at full blast, the five players and Klein's guild ran down the corridors, heading towards the boss room and expecting the worst.

However, what the room yielded to them was _nothing_ like what they had expected.

The demon himself was faced away from them, picking at the injured soldiers. Roaring once, he swung his sword powerfully catching Corvatz's armor and sending him flying. He landed several decimeters away from them. The durability of his helmet reached zero and it shattered into particles, revealing the man's face which was slowly beginning to tear up. "Im… possible…" he mumbled, as his face began to distort before finally exploding into particles.

The silence upon the group was oppressing as if the weight of the sky that was held by Atlas himself was distributed on each of the shoulders of the makeshift raid team. There have been no casualties for boss battles since the fifty-fourth floor and here they are: on the seventy-fourth floor facing an extremely powerful floor boss who had just managed to take the life of one person.

While they were contemplating, the boss had taken no interest in the new group and turned back around. Finally finding his voice, Kirito shouted, "Teleport Crystals! Use them!"

"We can't!" a soldier replied. "They don't work!"

Kirito widened his eyes, his face looking gaunt in the eerie lighting of the room. It was as if he had just seen a ghost, a ghost from the past that riled up his emotions past the point of no return. He muttered, "No… An Anti-Crystal Area…? There was never a boss room with this yet…!"

His knee joints locked in fear. Kirin tilted her head in confusion but was forced to return her attention back to the boss when another scream resounded through the room. She watched in utter disbelief as the boss slowly lifted up its massive sword to decimate the rest of the soldiers. Asuna mumbled, "No…" Kirin looked to her left at her friend. Asuna's beautiful face was marred by a look of utter desolation. Tears began forming at the edges of her eyes as she muttered again, "No… Stop…" Her hand shook as she edged it closer to the hilt of her rapier. When the boss raised its sword to its apex, she lost control. She cried out as she charged into the boss room, her rapier proudly drawn, "_No_!"

Kirin had also snapped. Strategy meeting or not, this boss _must_ be brought down. She drew her sword and used Vorpal Strike, the blinding crimson light piercing into the room as she closed the distance between herself and the monster in a near-instant and rocketed directly into its back. She grunted in full satisfaction as she heard the boss wail from the sudden and powerful impact she had delivered. Just then, she decided to test a small loophole she had discovered in the system.

She had noticed that there was a small window in time before the end of a specific sword skill and the beginning of its post-motion delay. She wondered what would happen if she activated another sword skill during this short timespan, Finding the point in time she needed, she poured more energy into her blade, yelling, "Sword skill, Vertical Square!" Lifting up her left foot and slamming it down on the ground hard, the fading crimson light of Vorpal Strike was reignited into a searing indigo hue as she twisted her sword ninety degrees to the left within the monster's body (the cutting edge of her blade was perpendicular in relation to the ground) and slashed leftwards, angled slightly to the top. Yanking her sword out, she spun a full circle counterclockwise and slashed again from the right to the right before returning her sword and slashing once from the top down. She ended the sword skill with a full-power cut from the bottom to the top.

Meanwhile, Asuna had finally caught up and unleashed Crucifixion, a sword skill that discolored her weapon a Munsell yellow (the color yellow, according to the Munsell color system) and consists of six high-speed thrusts that trace the shape of a cross (the first three thrusts trace a line horizontally and the last three thrusts trace a line vertically). This gave Kirin enough leeway to skeeter away from the boss after recovering from Vertical Square's post-motion delay. However, Asuna wasn't so lucky. As she was caught in midair, she took on the full temperament of the boss as it angrily turned around. It swung its giant sword at her but Asuna had recovered enough to barely parry it away. However, the brute force of the blade forced her to spin in the air and she couldn't avoid getting punched, sending her flying back. "Asuna!" Kirin yelled. She watched in disbelief as her HP dropped from a full bar to sixty percent of the maximum value.

"Asuna!" Kirito echoed, charging into the room with his weapon drawn as the beast angrily raised its sword to deal the finishing blow against her. He leaped into the fray and flipped his handhold on the weapon (the blade pointing outwards and backward to his right) as he slammed the black sword's edge against the monster's giant blade, forcing it off-course ever so slightly. However, that was enough perturbation aimed at the sword to throw it completely off-course, missing Asuna who was lying disabled on the floor by just about three centimeters. "Scram!" he ordered, jolting Asuna into realizing that her post-motion delay had long since ended; she hopped to her feet and retreated.

Klein muttered something about his luck before running into the room as well, keeping his katana sheathed as he knew that he wouldn't be able to put up much of a fight. Keeping a watchful eye on the boss, he, his guildmates, Nautilus, and Yuna skirted around the edge of the room while Kirito, Asuna, and Kirin kept the boss distracted. He got himself under a soldier laying on the ground and offered him a shoulder. "Alright, guys, you're fine now. I got you!"

The delirious soldier mumbled, "Maria, is that you…?"

Horribly disgusted but not willing to show it, Klein simply stated, "Uh, kiss me and I'll drop you." He and his guildmates picked them up and ran outside the boss room, skirting the walls again so as to not draw aggro. Dropping them outside the room and giving them healing crystals, Klein ordered his guildmates as well as Nautilus and Yuna to watch over them while he himself went back into the boss room. "Hey, Kirin!"

Kirin stepped out of the fray and replied, "What?"

"That thing you just did," he said. "Was that Skill Connect?"

She tilted her head in confusion. "The… what?"

He sighed. "You know that thing you just did? Connecting Vertical Square to Vorpal Strike?"

"Oh, that?"

Klein nodded. "Yeah, it is apparently a skill that we players can use that is not managed by the system."

"Oh-ho?"

"Yeah, you're supposed to 'feel' for it since there is actually a small window in time between the post-motion delay and the end of the sword skill itself," he elaborated. "Activating a second sword skill in that window allows you to bypass the delay and enter directly into the next sword skill."

"How do you know about it?" she asked.

"Well, uh… It's because I accidentally discovered its functions on the tenth floor but I had to go through a lot of trial and error to finally master it. I've done it so much, I apparently have a unique skill that I unlocked eight floors ago."

"Hoh, a unique skill, eh?"

"Yeah, it's called Soaring Slash."

"Hey, Kirin-shi, Klein-san, stop talking and get over here!" Asuna yelled.

"Sorry!" Kirin replied. She ran back to Asuna's side and watched the boss which was currently trying to smash Kirito into bits with the flat end of its blade. Kirin caught a twinkle in the eyes of the monster to which she widened her eyes and shouted, "Kirito, tuck, and roll!" Understanding immediately, he ducked and rolled under the boss's legs. Kirin leaped to her right while Asuna rolled the other direction as the boss opened its mouth and let loose an energy sphere that sailed so close to Kirin she felt the blast of wind against her hair.

"God, this guy won't let up," Kirito grumbled as he recovered from his evasive maneuver.

"Retreat isn't an option here then…" Asuna affirmed. "How will we do this?"

"Like this!" Kirito answered the question by getting up behind the monster and using the royal yellow-clad Vertical to sever its tail which was quite gruesome considering that the tail was made to be that of the body of a boa constrictor. The monster roared in agony and instinctively stuck its foot out backward, in a soccer-like maneuver. Kirito managed to scramble out of the way just in time to avoid getting drop-kicked directly into the wall. He watched in triumph as the severed tail hit the ground and exploded into particles. He then went and regrouped with the others. "I'm not taking any chances. That tail could be dangerous. The only problem now is that gigantic weapon of his…"

Kirin scrutinized Kirito, noting the number of cuts that the monster's sword had given him. "At this rate, it's going to be a battle of attrition…" she muttered. "Kirito, you and Asuna currently have the strongest DPS. You two attack the boss. I'll stay back and support!"

"Alright!" Kirito said. "With the four of us, we might stand a chance!"

Kirin immediately began singing, her voice filling the room with tranquility and tenderness. She invoked a song that induced an HP regeneration buff on her allies before switching to a tune that invokes a boost to all stats. She wasn't confident yet in that all-around booster since she had unlocked it just earlier during the battle with the Demonic Servants. "Kirito, I'm not sure how long this boost will hold! Hurry!"

"Yeah, yeah, I got it," he replied. "Easier said than done though! This boss's strength is off the charts!" He barely had time to finish that sentence because the monster had brought its sword down with full power. Kirito barely managed to hold it back with the flat of his sword, the weight of the giant blade forcing him to his knees. The boss was getting smarter, however. Knowing that it couldn't break through the guard, it drew back its sword and made for a thrust at Kirito's stomach. The speed at which the monster was attacking him was extremely fast. Kirito only managed to sidestep and catch the blade against the flat end of his own blade again, his arm shaking against the weight of the sword. His face twisted in agony, Kirin noticed that he had steeled his expression before shouting, "Kirin, Asuna, Klein, I need ten seconds! Keep it off me!"

Kirin stopped singing and drew her sword again. "Alright." Her all-around buff was beginning to wear off but it was enough for her movement to be so fast it was as if she disappeared. Reappearing five centimeters in front of the boss, she said, "Hi!" Holding her sword in her right hand and near her waist, she activated the royal purple-clad Savage Fulcrum, using her body weight to cut into the left side of the monster's abdomen to the center of its stomach before twisting the blade ninety degrees to the right and forcing her blade even deeper into the monster. She took her sword and tore up through the monster's body and tore back down through the monster's flesh.

She intended to activate the highly damaging Radiant Arc sword skill next but the monster moving in agony at the damage Kirin had caused forced her out of the pre-motion stance needed to use that skill. As such, Kirin failed to exploit the window and felt her body freezing up in the delay. Klein widened his eyes as the boss raised its giant sword to bring it down at the statue that was Kirin. He shouted, "Oh no, you don't! My turn! Take this, you stupid goat! Sword skill: Renge!" He charged into the fray and stopped about a meter away. Setting his body into a position ninety degrees to the left relative to the boss, he put his hand on the hilt of his sword. In a deeply exaggerated maneuver, he drew the weapon and made a powerful slash. The cut had so much back in it, it seemed to create a dimensional rift as it passed through the air. The line whistled through the boss's arm in which it held the sword and completely cut it off. "Asuna, the post-motion delay on this skill is quite long! Extract her from there please!"

Asuna nods as she sheathes her rapier and runs towards Kirin's side. However, Kirin wasn't as disabled as she seemed. She yanked her sword out of the monster's abdomen and fell back before the monster's severed arm would fall and crush her flat. "Is that enough time, Kirito?!"

"Yeah, more than enough!" The monster roared as it grabbed its giant blade in its other hand and made to cut Kirito cleanly in half. However, holding Elucidator in his right hand, Kirito used the cutting edge of the sword to deflect the monster's blade away from him. Kirin watched in awe as Kirito let out a very impressive roar of his own and reached behind his back. Out of nowhere, a second sword sheath with the blade still protected within materialized. Placing his hand on the hilt, he drew it and slapped the giant sword away from him using both swords in hand before activating a sword skill whose periwinkle color contrasted brightly with the dark blue flames of the room and whose conclusion blew the monster back.

"Wha-?" Kirin began. She, Asuna, and Klein watched speechlessly as Kirito proudly held two swords in his hands. Kirin knew he was predominantly right-handed but she didn't know that he also had the acquired ability of ambidexterity. She herself was ambidextrous although, like Kirito, predominantly right-handed.

The rest of the crew observing from behind him, Kirito took an audibly deep breath. "Okay…" he said. "Sword skill: Starburst Stream." Both of his blades, one midnight black the other turquoise blue, glowed an icy blue. He began attacking the boss in a flurry of slashes. His hands flew across the air as he delivered one strike, two strikes, four strikes, eight strikes. His movements were unimaginably graceful as he twirled on his feet to attack more. However, the boss was also dealing damage against him. Halfway through his attack frenzy, the demon had punched him. That punch didn't have enough power to force him away but it was enough to anger Kirito into increasing the speed of his attacks.

Judging from what she could see from her point of observation, Kirito's irate frenzy of attacks began with a horizontal strike with his right sword followed by an upward slash with his left before spinning in a circle and striking horizontally with both swords. He repeated this movement for the fifth and sixth strikes before slashing two 'X's in opposite directions: up and down. He followed up with a top right-down left slash with his left sword and top-left down-right slash with his right sword then attacking in the 'X' fashion again, both up and down. Kirito then traced a square with his next four attacks using both swords: slashing left-right, up-down, right-left, down-up. He ended his assault with a full-powered thrust with both swords before lunging back to deliver another full-power strike, this time with only his right sword.

The boss went silent as Kirito's final thrust with his left blade impaled its abdomen. Exploding into particles, the silence that befell the room was exceedingly oppressing. Suddenly, the forced quiet was shattered by the appearance of a single sign, one that appeared in the air three meters above Kirito and four meters in front. One extremely simple word was written on it: _Congratulations!_

"Is… Is it over…?" he asked no one in particular. Asuna yelped as he began to teeter on his feet. His balance finally failed and he proceeded to collapse backward onto the floor.


	5. An Inkling of Evil Chapter II Part I

1455 AST

Somewhere in the 74th Floor Labyrinth.

The sound of footsteps reverberated throughout the infernal maze that the teenager was navigating. When he finally heard it, the clashing of steel and the terrifying roars of the mighty boss that dwelled somewhere upon this floor, a boss that Shimakaze personally wanted to take on alone, ever since the Labyrinth bested him.

He began running towards the origins of the sounds as he kept weaving around the turns and the bends of the never-ending maze. Indeed, it did seem to take forever, until he got to the corridor where the sound was coming from. He first laid eyes on soldiers, native to the Aincrad Liberation Force. He saluted his higher-ups (as he is ranked Captain while Nautilus is a Lieutenant Colonel and Yuna is a Major) and they both nodded before pointing towards the entrance, silently commanding him to inspect the boss room.

Nodding with the order completely understood, he walked into the boss room. The room was completely silent except for the gentle flicker of azure light from the calm fires running across the base of the walls. His vision finally trained on a lone group of four players. One was standing, his bandanna-clad brown hair standing at attention. The other two were females, both of whom, like Yuna and Nautilus, were his superiors within the Knights of the Blood. "Lieutenant General Asuna," he said softly. "Is it safe to assume that the boss has been defeated?"

"Yes," she replied. "We had a complete victory."

"Doesn't seem to be one though, does it?" The teenager approached the group, his gait radiating tactfulness and elegance. Even for a maturing teen, the way he carried himself so confidently was as if those in his presence were in the presence of royalty. Most effective of all was the eloquence his silver-tongued voice exuded, able to persuade those with weak personalities to give them the resolve to fight harder than the steel of the blades they fight with. He walked around the group, scrutinizing everyone that he came across. His eyes bore deep into the unconscious form of Kirito and his emotions began to seethe as he noticed that he had his head in the laps of both girls present: Asuna on his left, Kirin on his right. "I would've expected less damage…" he said bluntly, "with better teamwork and coordination."

Klein raised an eyebrow. "Hey, man, what can you expect from a raiding party that is only composed of four people? We're lucky we came out in this condition."

Unrattled and beginning to get annoyed, he continued, "Do you call this a victory? How do you expect me to condone this behavior? We are the Knights of the Blood, the most powerful guild in SAO! Our goal is to protect those who need protection and clear floors so we could free all those trapped in this God-forsaken world…" His speech faltered when he scrutinized Kirito one more time. He added, "What say you if we lost Kirito-dono?" Shimakaze looked around at everyone, his eyes flashing anger. "What would we do if we lost one of our best? We'd all be lost!"

"Dude, my guy, just calm down, man," Klein interjected. "Like I said, what can you expect from a raiding party of only four people? Seriously, man, we didn't even hold a strategy meeting for this!"

The male teenager marched to the unconscious Kirito and made a movement that was clear that he wanted to pick the boy up. However, Kirin did not tolerate this. From her seated position, she drew her sword which she had detached from her belt and placed to her right so as to not bother the unconscious Kirito and pointed its edge at his throat. "Shimakaze," she said, her voice deadly calm. "Don't. He has to regain consciousness first."

"General…" he stammered. "I meant no harm…"

At that moment, a second personality rose to the surface, a personality that was an amalgamation of Kirin's primal emotions. The emotions that wanted to kill and torture, possess and love. These emotions were kept bottled up inside of her due to her job which requires that she keep a permanent smile on her face. She didn't know that, at some point in her career, that smile had grown to become false. Her smile was not real anymore. It was just a visage to hide her more dark interior. Indeed, the overwhelming darkness her heart held in secret was enough to scare a normal person. This was her second personality, a result of the dissociative identity disorder that she inherited from her grandmother.

«Dissociative Identity Disorder».

A personality disorder, shortened to DID, that occurs when a person develops at least two distinct and relatively enduring personality states. In Kirin's case, her disorder arose from the constant stress of her job. Her dark side came about because she kept bottling up the feelings that were unnecessary to the job.

That same personality had surfaced. "Huh?!" she yelled softly, not daring to move as she was afraid she would awaken the boy sleeping on her lap. "I told you that 'no' means 'no'! Now, are you going to scram or should I kill you?"

The teenage boy, being a rather deep pervert as well as a masochist, cowered in fear as he let out a squeak of pleasure. "Ah, no, General, please don't stop insulting me."

"Hah?" Kirin grumbled. "What the hell? Shimakaze, are you just a fucking weirdo?"

Klein was also taken aback, by both the awakening of this unknown aspect of Ayanami's personality and the extremely unaccounted-for reaction of Shimakaze. "Wh-What…?"

Kirin turned back towards the front where Klein stood at attention behind Asuna. "Hah? Who the fuck are you?"

Asuna winced. She knew of Kirin's second personality. If one could compare her outer personality to a finely finished rapier with the gloss shining perfectly, her other personality is like a sword with the blade itself being jagged, growing from the hilt before shooting out to the left then back to the right then back to the center. On top of that, the cutting edges of the blade are serrated, as Kirin's second personality knew no boundaries. "That's uh… her other personality."

"What the fuck you on about, Asuna?" Kirin laughed. "This is me! I'm Kirin, Ayanami Shiratsuyu! Child idol! Loved by all of Japan!"

"Yeah, okay…" Asuna couldn't think of another proper answer as since this was the first time, she had heard a girl of Ayanami's age using words that should never be used by children of her age.

Kirin then turned her attention to the unconscious form of the boy sleeping on her lap. "When's he gonna wake up? How long has it been since he's out? We can't heal him if he's unconscious."

"We should let him rest some more," Asuna squeaked. Even the Flash was fearful of the completely sudden and unexpected personality change.

"My legs are getting tired though," she complained. "He may be unconscious but there's the saying that goes: 'Unconscious boys are always heavy.' You ever hear of that?"

Asuna wet her lips and replied, "Uh, no…?"

"Bah," she groaned. "Whatever, but Kirito is gonna wake up, no matter what." The next moment, an impossibility occurred. It only was possible because of Kirin's switch in personality to her dark side. Running her fingers through her hair, she placed some loose locks behind her ear before leaning down. In a single fluid motion, her rosy pink lips met the lips of the unconscious boy. Her eyes closed, she continued to work her lips as she kissed him passionately.

The reactions from the onlookers were all the same, yet completely different. Klein, being an adult, was fine with this sudden occurrence although he did say, "Whoa, there."

Asuna's face began to redden as the blood rushed from her feet to her head. "Wha-wha-what?" she stammered. "Ki-Kirin-shi! What are you doing?!"

Kirin broke away, the effects of the kiss lingering with the most prominent examples being a minuscule string of saliva connecting her mouth with Kirito's and her own labored breathing. "Hah… Hah…" she groaned. "What am I doing? I'm waking him up!"

The boy groaned as he muttered, "What… I'm up, I'm up!" His eyes slowly opened as he grimaced. "Ugh… I fainted, didn't I…?"

Klein put his hand over his mouth as he snickered, "Oh, yeah. Not very heroic there, bro."

Like Asuna, Kirin was also heating up. However, it was for an entirely different reason. Her breathing became increasingly more labored. While Kirito sat up and tried to regain his bearings, Kirin opened her menu and extracted a health potion from her inventory. Asuna's eyes widened but she acted too late. Kirin popped the vial open and drained the bottle but she did not drink it. Instead, she grabbed Kirito's cheeks and planted her lips yet again on his mouth. As he was low on health, he could not resist Kirin's grip but as the potion worked its way from her mouth to his, he began to regain his strength. By the time his health recovered to 80% of its maximum value, he had regained enough strength to force her off of him. "Wh-What was that for?"

Kirin sat in a collapsed seiza-style and put her left hand on the ground and her right index finger on the bottom of her lips. She licked her lips and said, "You taste so good."

"I-... I, what?"

Asuna's hand shakily went to the hilt of her sword. "En-Enough of your antics, Kirin-shi! How could you calmly… k-k-k-ki-kiss Kirito and not bat your eyelashes?"

Kirin laughed gleefully. "Awh, is cute little Asuna jealous because I stole Kirito's lips not once but twice? That's so cute!"

Kirin only stammered, "U-Uh… I-I guess I'm back?"

Kirin stood up and stretched. "Haaaaah… That was refreshing!" she said. Suddenly, her eyes lost some of their light. "H-Huh… I feel… so tired…" Her knees buckled as she collapsed forward.

Kirito shot to his feet and caught her before she could completely collapse. The girl was limp in his arms. "Wha-what was that?"

Although still highly embarrassed, Asuna gritted her teeth and began explaining. "Kirin-shi suffers from a case of dissociative identity disorder. She's developed two different personalities in her body. That persona earlier, the one that was outputting such a deep aura of lust and murder, was her alter personality. I speculate that that is the personality that she developed from constantly holding in feelings that she could not express publicly."

Kirito's face softened. "Ah… So she suffers from that."

Klein interrupted, "Anyways, besides that, what the hell was that?"

"What was what?" Kirito asked, confused.

"That thing you did earlier against the boss!"

"Oh…" Kirito eyed the guest in his presence who had been silent ever since he had woke up. "I'll explain later. I don't want to reveal it to him."

Asuna narrowed her eyes, apparently understanding. "Alright, we should make our way back to the town. Since we're all here, do you guys want to crash at my place?"

Kirito dodged the question with another question although it was not directed at Asuna. "Where's Yuna and Nautilus?"

"Outside," Klein replied. "They're dealing with the remaining members of the Aincrad Liberation Force."

"Okay, sounds good," Kirito nodded. "Let's get back. I'm about ready to drop again."

Asuna cleared her throat. "We-Well, knowing you, you're probably going to sleep in some random inn on some random floor so why not I offer you a place to sleep for the night?"

Kirito's eyes widened. "Asuna, you have a house?"

"Ye-Yeah," she said. "It's in Selmburg on the sixty-first floor. It's nothing much."

"Well, if you insist, I'll disrupt your house's tranquility," he shrugged. "What about you, Klein?"

As an adult, Klein was not inclined to rely on those who are younger than him and plus, he already knew where this is going and he knew he can't interfere. "Nah, I'm good. I need to take care of my guildmates. Plus, I'm better at diplomacy than you, Kirito. You really can't hold a good conversation with people. I'll be in charge of the Aincrad Liberation Force."

Asuna nodded. "That's a big help, Klein-san. Thanks."

"No problem, Miss Flash," he replied. "I need to go now. I'll see you guys tomorrow."

"Yeah, sure," Kirito added. Holding the unconscious Ayanami in a princess grip, he asked, "Shall we get going?"

Asuna nods silently, her mind seething in anger at how Kirito could just casually carry another girl like that. "I'll invite Yuna and Nautilus too."

"Sounds good." The two of them, plus an unconscious maiden, ambled their way out of the boss room.

Nineteenth Day of the Month of the Ash Tree, 2024

1020 AST

Asuna's home.

Selmburg, 61st Floor.

She was asleep.

Like any other person who had spent a solid forty minutes the previous day on extreme exercises, otherwise known as the seventy-fourth boss battle. Indeed, the events of the previous day were such a doozy. Tossing in the sheets, Kirin sat up groggily, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. She stared at the clock at her bedside and noticed the time was almost two hours before noon. Holy… It's rare of me to sleep in! She shoots out of her bed and notices that she had slept in her guild-issued uniform. "Jeez, no wonder I felt like something was sticky…" she lamented. "Wait… I forgot. We don't sweat in virtual reality." She laughed at her own stupidity for suggesting that she was sweaty and sticky. "Well, I guess I'll go and change… I wonder if the commander will be angry if I visited him out of uniform today…"

Meanwhile, on the other side of her door, the onyx-haired boy had just about the worst timing one can have. Having woken up around three minutes earlier, he had exited his own room (Asuna's room to be more specific as since, for some reason, she had insisted that he sleep in her bed the night before) to go to the bathroom. Still experiencing the effects of sleep inertia, his mind was muddled as he turned the knob to the door of Kirin's room, thinking it was the lavatory. The handle turned and he walked inside. The sight that met his eyes immediately snapped him awake. "U-Umm…" he stammered.

Kirin stood in the room with nothing on except for a pair of white lace underwear. Her modest chest, quite average for a fourteen-year-old as herself (her fifteenth birthday is in eleven days), bounced alluringly in the morning light which was decent enough to at least partially block her breasts from view. For a second, nobody moved. Her hand was still hovering in the air because she had clicked the unequip button to remove her uniform just seconds earlier. Her face reddened, extremely slowly, extremely gradually. Kirito put his hands on his face, stuttering, "So-So-Sorry!"

Kirin blushed and muttered, almost inaudibly, "Just turn around already."

"Um... what?"

Her embarrassment boiled over into total anger as she repeated loudly, "Just turn around already!"

His own face red as a beet, Kirito immediately swiveled around, his hands held in an 'I surrender' gesture. "Go-Got it!" Kirito was immediately guilty of his crime of peeping on a girl changing. He thought back to when he had walked in on his sister… no, his cousin. He vigorously shook his head, No, she isn't Suguha! This isn't a case of relation! This is most definitely a crime. This is a crime, this is a crime…

While he was facing away, the steam rising around Kirin's face softened just a tiny bit as she fiddled around again with her menu, equipping normal clothing: a blue T-shirt with the city of Selmburg on it and a pair of blue jeans with a belt so she could tie the scabbard of her sword to her jeans just in case she needed to fight monsters. She crossed her arms and said, "Yo-You can turn around now."

Kirito didn't dare move, at first. He simply turned his eyes to his right where a mirror set in the corner on a desk set as a working station reflected large portions of the room, including the location where Ayanami was standing. For some reason, for some bewitching reason, the excellent figure of Kirin's body was further intensified by the clothes she wore. It was as if the fabric (although, the unfortunate actuality of them being literally just pixels damaged the surrealism) was woven using the silk of the gods and worn by a princess of the gods herself. "U-Umm…" he said as he slowly turned around, not sure if he should believe his eyes. "Uh…"

"Wh-What?" she said. She put her left hand over her chest and her right hand over her lower regions. "Your lecherous stare is unwarranted…"

"Sorry!" Kirito immediately broke his stare and looked towards the ground.

"It-It's fine…" she mumbled. "A-Anyways, why did you come into my room in the first place?"

"Uh…" he said. "I was searching for the bathroom and since I had just woke up, I chose the wrong room…" He then shook his hands and his head repeatedly as he added, "It was not on purpose, I swear! I didn't mean to peek on you changing…"

"You're not a morning person then…" she concluded. "Come on, I'll show you the bathroom." Kirin marched from her spot and took Kirito's hand. She dragged him out of the room and down the second-floor hallway to the end where she pushed the boy headfirst into the bathroom. She then closed the door before the boy could complain and sighed. "I'm not ready for this kind of drama… Especially after what happened yesterday…" Kirin proceeded to drown in nostalgia as she headed towards the kitchen to cook breakfast, recalling the events of the previous day.


	6. An Inkling of Evil Chapter II Part II

The previous day, 1830 AST.

It was nice of Asuna to allow them to crash at her place. Despite being quite the high-ranking member within the Knights of the Blood, Kirin doesn't have a permanent place of residence. She usually hunkers down in random inns on random floors where she doesn't stay for longer than two nights. Yuna and Nautilus have insisted on giving her a place to sleep but she outright refuses.

Kirin only accepted this time because she was running low on spendable money and she did not want to incur debt from her own guild. Asuna had brought them down to her house in Selmburg and told them to relax while she went to report their victory to the boss. Not wanting to be a useless paperweight, Kirin volunteered to go with her. Asuna shook her head. "You literally just woke up from fainting in the boss room!" Asuna yelped. "I'm going to have to say no, Kirin-shi."

Kirin replied, "Just so you know, I am the Major General of the Knights of the Blood. This much will not do me in." She turned towards her juniors in rank and ordered, "Just hold down the fort, Yuna, Nautilus."

Asuna sighed. "Alright, fine. Oh, make sure to put Kirito in bed. I can't believe he's out cold already…"

"Ahaha, he's quite lazy at times. However, I can see why he would sleep right away. That battle was very tiring."

"I concur. Alright, let's make this visit quick so we can rest up." The girls, still in their guild-issued uniform, marched out of the front door and headed back towards the Teleport Gate Plaza. Their destination was the headquarters of their guild located in the City of Steel, the fifty-fifth floor's living area, Granzam.

Two portals of equal size emitted a shining blue light that materialized into the bodies of two players. One was the Lightning Flash, the lieutenant general of the Knights of the Blood guild, Asuna. The other, the third-in-command as the major general, is extremely revered by most of the male player body. She was known as the Snow White Songstress. Due to her status, everyone knows her name from real life. She was the eldest and only child of the Shiratsuyu family, Ayanami Shiratsuyu, a kid idol who gained fame at the age of ten. To the dismay of the person herself, the player body calls her by her real-life name. If anything, the only people to call her '_Kirin_' was her own guildmates along with Kirito, Klein, Lisbeth, Agil, and Silica.

Kirin was hardly surprised as she looked around the plaza and was immediately swarmed by players. She simply put on her fake smile and shook people's hands. She tried recalling the reason they had come here in the first place. Remembering her purpose, she next recalled the way to their headquarters. The plaza was a circle measuring about ninety meters in diameter. It was located in the center of the city and conveniently, their headquarters were directly north of their location. "Come on, Kirin-shi." Asuna grabbed her hand and pulled her through the crowd of players. They both ran to their left as the gate ejected them facing west. After getting into the relative quiet of the streets, Asuna spoke again. "Kirin-shi, are you alright?"

"Oh…" Kirin concluded that Asuna was worried about her mental health. Well, of course, it was for a good reason. Kirin has a very strong mental strength. She needs this trait if she wants to do her job of singing in front of massive hordes of people properly. "No, no, I'm perfectly okay, Asuna. Come on, let's just get this report over with."

Asuna, being a fellow girl, could tell that she was lying: it was written all over her face. However, Asuna being three years her elder did not want to press further. She could never understand the life that Kirin went through. She simply nodded. "Yeah." The two girls spent the next four minutes weaving through the streets and ambling upon the entrance of their headquarters. The two were immediately saluted by the guards at the gate. "At ease, gentleman," Asuna ordered.

Marching past them, they ventured into the inner chambers where the council seats are located at. Still seated in his position at the head of the half-moon-shaped table was the founder and the commander of the Knights of the Blood. Indeed, he carried the air of a proud knight. His name was Heathcliff. He said, "Ah, Lieutenant General Asuna. Major General Kirin. What brings you in at this late hour?"

Asuna replied, "Commander Heathcliff, I would like to report that the seventy-fourth floor has been cleared."

The man's face, clearly evident of signs of aging, cleared up a bit as he smiled radiantly. "Oh-ho? I'm surprised. I sent you out this morning to complete the mapping of the Labyrinth. I thought you would report to me when the boss room has been discovered."

"That was our intention," Kirin continued. "However, General, certain circumstances forced us to engage the boss without any prior preparation. As such, I sincerely regret to let these words leave my lips but we have suffered the loss of four players."

The man winced slightly and sighed. "That… That is indeed unfortunate. Are the casualties one of our own?"

Asuna picked up the story from there. "Fortunately not, sir. One of the leaders of the Aincrad Liberation Force, Corvatz, led an army into the Labyrinth. We encountered him as we were planning our exit for the strategy meeting. However, he insisted that he go and assault the boss room himself."

Heathcliff lifted his chin from where he was resting it on his cupped hands and shook his head. "Poor man. What a _terrible_ time to have such a major lapse in judgment." The man sat up properly in his chair and waved his hand in a 'go on' gesture. "Please continue."

Asuna nodded. "Well, we were going to exit the Labyrinth, however, a scream from the boss room echoed through the corridors. I quickly called for a strategy meeting but Kirin-shi here prevented me and laying out the fact that there simply wasn't enough time. Eventually, we just proceeded to wing the boss battle."

Kirin finalized, "We had the help of Klein-san's Fuurinkazan guild and Kirito."

"Ah, the solo player?" Heathcliff asked.

"Yes," Asuna confirmed. "We had the Black Swordsman help us."

"Who dealt the Last Attack?"

"Kirito did, sir," Kirin answered, although slightly begrudgingly as she wanted that last attack for herself.

"Oh-ho," Heathcliff coughed. "So, any other notable occurrences that require mentioning?"

Asuna and Kirin looked at each other. They had a silent argument. Should we tell him?

No, I don't think so, Kirin replied. I doubt Kirito would want us to reveal it.

I think we should tell him.

Alright, you do it, because I'm not the one who's going to reveal the existence of that skill.

Having won the argument, Asuna turned back towards the commander and said, "Yes. It seems that Kirito-kun has a unique skill that allows him to use two swords at once."

Heathcliff slammed the table with both hands and stood up. A huge smile plastered on his face, he declared, "Oh, now this is some interesting news! Where is Kirito now?"

"He's sleeping, sir," Kirin informed. "As it was he that drove the boss down, he's the one that expended the most energy."

"Ah, that is unfortunate," Heathcliff nodded. "That is fine. I would like to see him tomorrow though."

Asuna and Kirin looked at each other again. Kirin ventured, "Sir, are you thinking of inviting him into the guild?"

"But, of course!" he declared. "The Knights of the Blood is in need of such a strong player as him. Now, no more arguments. I thank you for your report. You are both dismissed."

Both girls wanted to argue but thought against it. They both curtsied and in harmony, answered, "Understood. Good day, Commander." The two turned on their heels and marched back out the way they came. Once they were out on the streets, they both were silent. "Asuna, are you sure this is the right choice?" Kirin lamented. "Doesn't Kirito have traumatic memories concerning guilds?"

"Yes…" she nodded. "He and the Moonlit Black Cats, at least, I think that's the guild's name. I've only ever heard rumors of Kirito's past life before he and I began excessively partying together."

"That's a story from two years ago…"

"Yes and Kirito still has not gotten over his fear of guilds. Actually, I'm quite sure he's scared to be around fellow players too."

"Yet, he seems to do just fine around you and me, Yuna and Nautilus, as well as Klein," Kirin interjected.

"I don't know," Asuna shrugged. "I don't really want to push this on him but if he thinks he's ready, I'll support him all the way."

"I shall also support him with all I have," Kirin added, reassuring both herself and her friend that they will be helpful. The two continued to walk until they reached the north entrance of the Teleport Gate Plaza. Just a few more steps until they could return to the sixty-first floor. Taking those steps would've been simple were it not for a commotion that arose just as they walked into the plaza.

A girl stood at the entrance of the teleport plaza, her thigh-length shimmering black hime-style hair catching the glow of the early moonlight, her simple yet elegant appearance unassuming except from the point of view of a number of male players apparently rushing to be the first to talk to her. She seemed to pay her apparent suitors no heed as they practically climbed over each other, instead only offering them a sidelong glance and shaking her head slowly in apparent annoyance, muttering softly to herself. As one of the male players broke through the front of the group, the girl turned around to face him as if in curiosity, her purple-tinted eyes glistening from the light. Speaking in a calm and elegant tone, her face betrayed no emotion.

"May I help you, Stetzer?"

As if in shock, the player apparently named Stetzer took a step back, looking around at the others who have gathered around. From the looks of it, the crowd was growing slowly, eventually surrounding the girl and her group of apparent fans.

Asuna and Kirin looked at each other. "She looks familiar," Asuna muttered.

Taking a step forward, the girl spoke again, this time in a more stern tone, as though she expected Stetzer to answer her. "Again, may I help you?"

With a quick clearing of his throat, Stetzer finally responded, lifting a hand up and rubbing the back of his neck in clear nervousness.

"Well… I was curious if, maybe, we could go grab a bite to eat?"

Kirin's mouth dropped open. From their vantage point on the edge of the Teleport Gate Plaza, they were well out of sight. She mumbled, "Did I hear correctly?"

"Yeah, he just… literally asked her out," Asuna nodded.

"Boys are weird…" Kirin concluded.

With a gentle sigh, the target of Stetzer's infatuation took yet another step forward, looking straight into Stetzer's eyes, her piercing gaze unsettling him even if only slightly. However, this time, the girl appeared quite curious, betrayed by her tone of speaking. She responded slowly, "Oh? So that's it, you're like the others. So be it, but I'll have to respectfully decline."

"Maybe we can settle this with a duel?" Stetzer responded, apparently unfazed by the girl's denial of his affections. "If I win, I can take you out. I know a great place, and-"

Cutting him off, she said, "A duel? Very well, that's something I can't refuse. I've needed a challenge. Don't disappoint me. Regardless, you should not go picking fights with whoever you believe you have a chance with. Especially not the so-called Princess Knight… Stetzer. Level 52, member of the Paradise guild."

Stetzer, wholly shocked, took a few steps back, the crowd focused on only him. A few of the players behind him pushed him forward, prompting him to take a deep breath and respond with surprising confidence. "So you know me, huh? That settles it." The man waved his right hand and began fiddling around with the menu. He tapped the "duel" option and opened the submenu, sending a request to the girl.

At that moment, the girl spotted a duel menu in her view. She, of course, selected the option that least endangers the life of herself and the other boy: First Strike mode. Taking a moment to consider the implications and bring up her equipment menu, she finally pressed the Confirm button, prompting the menu to disappear and the countdown timer of sixty seconds to manifest in the air above them. "This is getting out of hand," Asuna stated as she watched the duel menu appear above their heads.

"Leave them be," Kirin giggled. "This should be fun. Although I have to admit, that player looks familiar. I just can't pinpoint where I last saw her…"

"Uh…" Asuna mumbled as she pointed upwards. "Look up."

Kirin obeyed and read the player name of the girl. 'Stravellia' was what was written there. She opened and closed her mouth, neither sounds nor words escaping from her lips. "Stravellia… The guild leader of that high-level Amaryllis guild?"

"Yeah…" Asuna whispered. "Despite being half as large as ours, it's quite a powerful guild. Although, I honestly doubt that they are more powerful than us."

"I concur," Kirin replied. "Let's just stay here and watch. Might make for some good research of a fellow high-level player."

The countdown finally reached zero. The moment the duel began, Stetzer appeared to take out a grey sphere. Throwing it into the air, it released a thick cloud of smoke, hindering the view of everyone watching. The only sign of battle taking place was the loud clanging of swords and the occasional glowing purple slash mark lingering in the air.

After roughly ten seconds, however, the smoke cleared, revealing both participants… yet the girl looked completely different than before. Rather than an intricate black dress, she wore a long black and purple coat. Her hair, still nearly the same as before, now had purple highlights on the tips of the front bangs, as she sported long, jet-black, wrist-mounted katars that appeared to have a purple glow. Many recognized her instantly as Stravellia, the Princess Knight of Amaryllis.

Asuna wet her lips and stated, "So, it _is_ her."

"So, it looks like it's my turn, Stetzer," Stravellia called over whilst pointing towards Stetzer, looking intently into his eyes. "You got yourself into this mess, and now I will show you the error of your ways."

Stravellia crouched down - and an instant later, with a wave of purple light, she appeared behind Stetzer, who by now has a large slash wound in his side. The next instant, the same happened, yet she appeared in front - and then finally, it happened one last time, Stravellia appearing behind him again, leaving Stetzer with three large slash wounds.

"That's… Rasetsu, a high-level katana sword skill," Kirin mumbled. "I've only heard of it from Klein. Never thought I'd be able to see it in person… Especially used by someone other than Klein."

"Yeah, that's quite amazing," Asuna replied. "Anyways, time is running by again. We should get back."

"Yeah, sure. I'm getting tired anyway," The two girls marched out of the shadows and into the evening light. Unfortunately, that meant they were in full view of anyone currently in the plaza.

After having witnessed the defeat of Stetzer, the other players who were focusing their attention on Stravellia, in complete fear, no less, noticed the arrival of another girl, the Snow White Songstress, their beloved Ayanami. Immediately switching targets, they rushed towards the fourteen-year-old girl, almost stampeding over each other - until a voice rang out. Stravellia's voice. "Are you sure about that? Are you _sure_ you want to go there?"

The seven male players all shivered in fright as the voice of the other female spiked their eardrums. However, they were not fazed. Instead, they all began to lord over Ayanami, complaining, "Ah, Ayanami-sama, please save us! That player is being such a bully!"

Kirin's face immediately contorted to one of absolute disgust as she tried getting away from the players, who had her rooted in place as some of them had thrown themselves at her legs, preventing her from moving. "Get _off_ of me!" she yelled. "Or I'll be the one who shoves you into the dirt next!"

The male players didn't bother taking this as a threat as they simply believed that she got her position in the Knights of the Blood as something like a "court jester" or a "court entertainer". They didn't expect her to be an actually good player. Instead, they replied, "No, no, Kirin-sama, you're not supposed to be a good player! You're supposed to be here for us to idolize over only!"

Kirin's face literally bled disappointment. She thought repeatedly, _Disgusting. Disgusting. Disgusting. Disgusting. Disgusting. Pervert. Pervert. Pervert. Pervert. Pervert._ She looked over at Asuna who was shocked into silence at the creepy actions but had started to try and pry off the players from Ayanami.

Unbeknownst to the others, Stravellia was walking in their direction, having apparently decided against switching out of her outfit. As she walked closer to Kirin and Asuna, she appeared to have an annoyed look on her face. Nonetheless, she sighed, speaking in a kind, warm tone. "Do you need help?"

Kirin looked over and flashed her iconic smile, although it was getting increasingly difficult to muster one because of the repugnant behavior of the players at her feet. "No, I'm fine, Amaryllis." In one swift maneuver, Ayanami drew her sword from her waist, the blade still sheathed, and she used the now-blunt blade to attack the players beneath her. Through pure muscle memory, Kirin used Sharp Nail, completely unassisted by the system as she attacked three players separately using the leather sheath of her weapon, Breakwind (of course, the attack was much slower than the system-assisted version). Her first strike was to land an uppercut-like hit on a man hugging her left leg. She then followed up with a strike from left to right, hitting the head of a second player, hard enough to send him off of her and tumbling into his fellow players before finally slamming her sword downwards into the head of a player clinging to her right leg. Breaking free, she jumped back and put her sword behind her neck. "Who's next?" she challenged. "I'll take on anyone. As long as we keep our weapons sheathed, we won't be considered as injuring another player and our cursors will remain green. Besides, our cursors won't change anyway since we're in a safe zone."

Having watched Kirin take on the players at her feet, Stravellia let out a giggle. Yet, focusing on her, she walked closer, now with a gentle smile. "So, I guess you hate the attention too, Kirin?" She sighed as she shifted a glance towards the players who were previously hugging Ayanami's feet and who are now moaning in nonexistent pain due to the blunt force of Ayanami's sword.

Kirin drew out ala long breath as she attached her scabbard back to her belt and replied, "Indeed. I may be an idol in real life but I honestly dislike the attention. Obsessive fans are just not my cup of tea. Also, you called me by my in-game name. Have I finally come across someone who is half-decent?"

"Perhaps, it all depends on your perspective. I know who you are - granted, I know a lot of people - but real life is to be left in real life."

"The only problem with that is when this is our new 'real life'," Kirin replied. "Anyways, come on, Asuna, we need to return home."

Asuna bowed in Stravellia's direction. "It was nice to meet you, Stravellia, leader of the Amaryllis guild."

"Agreed. Also, please drop the formalities. I'm not on duty anyway, and we're not with the same guild either." She opened her menu, proceeding to remove her outfit and change into her real life appearance.

"If you say so," Asuna nodded. "Now, we must depart." Asuna and Ayanami both march into the teleport gate and proceed to disappear, reappearing only in the Teleport Gate Plaza of the sixty-first floor.


	7. An Inkling of Evil Chapter II Part III

Nineteenth Day of the Month of the Ash Tree, 2024

1025 AST

Asuna's home, Selmburg, 61st Floor.

Kirin was downstairs in the kitchen cooking some breakfast. She simply perused through Asuna's cupboards for cooking materials and literally slapped together what looked like several delicious slices of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Asuna herself appeared at the stairwell at that moment and said, "No wonder I smelled something good! You're making some breakfast?"

"Yup," she replied. "Is everyone else awake?"

"Mostly," Asuna reported. "Kirito is getting ready, Yuna is in the bathroom and Nautilus is still zonked out."

"Pfft," Kirin scoffed. "I find it odd that Kirito woke up first."

"True. Should I help?"

"No, I think I'm good. Anyways, we need to bring Kirito to see Heathcliff today."

"Ah… Yeah, good point. I honestly hoped that that was a dream and as such, we had no need but nope, it's the reality."

"Reality is a pain."

"It's quite ironic though." A new voice entered into the conversation. The visage of Kirin appeared in the stairwell as he continued, "We're in a game so this can't be '_reality_'."

"Haha, good point," Kirin laughed.

"Anyways, what's this about me having to see Heath-what's-his-name?"

"Heathcliff," Asuna corrected. "Our commander wants to see you since we cleared the seventy-fourth floor without any prior strategy meetings and stuff."

"Oh…"

Kirin shrugged. "Yeah, I know, it sucks. Oh, by the way, I've been meaning to ask. What was that skill you first used against The Gleam Eyes?"

"Oh, that one? It's called Gale Slicer," Kirin confirmed. "I can use it in two ways; I can either rip outwards or slash inwards. With both swords, of course."

"I see, I see," the two girls said at the same time. Kirin asked, "Anyways, we're going to need to see the boss."

"Before that, we need to eat," he declared.

Another masculine voice echoed from the upstairs hallway. "Did someone say 'food'?"

"Shaddup, Nautilus!" Kirin yelled back. "This is all my food!"

"Oh no, you don't! This food is made by the two Lieutenant Generals of the Knights of the Blood! You're an outsider so butt off!" Nautilus argued as he ran down the stairs and took his seat at the table.

"Oh, but, Nautilus-kun, we are virtuous and we think it is right to share," Kirin teased. "Isn't that right, Asuna?"

"Of course, Kirin-shi," Asuna giggled. "This food is for everyone who sits at this table to partake of."

Nautilus sighed. "Alright, fine. If you say so, Lieutenant General, I have neither the right nor the authority to tell you to stop."

Kirin sighed as she stopped her laughter and once more, took the time to take in the view of the house's living room. From where she was standing in the kitchen with the cupboards and the sinks behind her and the counter and stoves in front of her, Kirin could see the stairwell that led up to the second floor which was tucked away on the right side corner of the far end of the room. The sliding glass doors that open outwards to the backyard were direct across her position and about one meter away from the stairs. In that space, there stood a table whose top was adorned by a vase of flowers. On the opposite side of this in relation to the glass doors was a V-shaped corner desk adorned with no decorations yet with a revolving chair planted at the mouth. "Sorry!" A voice called out from above. "Am I late?"

Kirin tore away her vision from her scanning of the living area to the stairwell where a head with hair the color of hot milk tea appeared following the legs and the rest of the body. "No, you're not, Yuna," Asuna stated. "We were just planning to eat breakfast." Kirin held two breakfast plates in each hand and carried them to the rectangular table, enough to seat six people. Kirin and Nautilus were sitting across from each other while Asuna would sit at the head of the table and Kirin on the opposite end. Yuna took a seat next to Nautilus. With everyone finally seated, they all put their hands together in unison and said, "Let's eat!"

Kirin was the first to stuff his mouth. He shoved his mouth with two sandwiches at once and squealed, "Holy, this is really good!"

"Well, what do you expect?" Kirin scoffed. "It's made by two people with completed cooking skills!"

"Uh-huh," he mumbled, unable to form coherent words as his mouth was full to the brim with food.

"Jeez, where are your manners, Kirito?!" Nautilus yelled.

"Not like you have manners yourself, Nautilus," Asuna scolded. Indeed, the boy was gorging himself in a way that was on par with Kirin or perhaps, even rowdier than him. "Anyways, since Kirin-shi and I were unable to report to you guys yesterday about what the commander said since you were already out, I'll tell you guys now."

Kirin casually picked up her fork which she had just used earlier to daintily pierce a piece of bread for eating purposes now held it up and pointed it at Kirin. "You, Kirito," she began. "The commander wants to see you."

Kirin continued eating for a bit. "Who, Heathcliff?"

"Yes," Asuna confirmed. "He wants to see you, especially after we told him about your Unique Skill…"

Nautilus's hand stopped as he was about to put another sandwich in his mouth. "Wait, hold up. Rewind," he pleaded. "Kirito has a unique skill?"

Kirin sighed as he sat back in the chair and twirled around the fork between his index and middle fingers. "Alright, I'm pretty sure I can trust you guys with this. My Unique Skill is called «Dual Blades». As its name suggests, it allows me to not only wield two swords at once but also allows me to use sword skills that utilize both swords at the same time. My Gale Slicer and Starburst Stream skills are just a few of what I have in my skill inventory as a result of my Dual Blades skill."

"Like my own Songstress," Kirin said. "It's basically the same thing as the Chant Extra Skill except for the fact that it is around twelve times more potent."

"Anyways, why does Heathcliff want to see me?" he asked.

"Well…" Asuna said dripping imaginary sweat as she nervously looked at Kirin. She nodded at her to reveal the issue at hand, giving her silent encouragement. Clearing her throat, Asuna continued, "Heathcliff wants to talk to you with the ultimatum of inviting you to the guild."

Kirin froze. He shook his head and said, "Asuna, you know I don't do guilds!"

"Yes, I know, I know," she whined. "However, once the commander sets his mind on something, he wants it in its entirety."

Kirin sighed. "Must I join? Is there any other way?"

"I don't know, Kirito," Kirin stated. "I just don't know."

Nautilus pointed his fork at him. "Yo, what's with you and your fear of guilds? Are you scared to be around people that much?"

"Hey, that's rude!" Yuna scolded.

Kirin held up a hand. "It's fine, Yuna. I guess I shouldn't keep this secret anymore…" Taking a deep breath, Kirin began his story. "My fear of guilds originates from the first one I ever joined, the «Moonlit Black Cats». I, being a person who is not used when surrounded by people, lied about my level. I said I was level 20 like them when in reality, I was already level 40. Anyways, I am not going to lie but I had a very fun time with them. However, everything went south when one of the members, eager for treasure, barrelled into a treasure vault. Unfortunately, it was an Anti-Crystal trap area and I had to watch as every single guild member was killed. Following that, I went to report to the guild leader but he couldn't bear being alone. He threw himself off the side of the castle."

The silence that ensued was grim. Kirin simply stated, "Ouch."

Nautilus silently put his fork down on the table before saying, "Sorry. I didn't know that that happened to you in the past…"

Kirin held up his hand again and replied, "It's fine. It's all in the past anyway…"

Kirin was disliking the current atmosphere. She decided to change the topic of the conversation. "A-Anyways, why were you guys so late into the Labyrinth?"

"Late?" Kirin asked.

Kirin ignored the boy's comment and instead turned to Asuna, demanding an explanation, "Didn't we agree to meet up in the Labyrinth at an hour before noon? I literally spent two hours trying to search for you."

"Ah…" she said. "Well, I did meet up with Kirito as scheduled: ten minutes past nine this morning. However, a certain disturbance involving myself and my bodyguard delayed us."

"Kuradeel-san?"

"Yes, him," she confirmed. "I had difficulty shaking him off his duties this morning. When I appeared out of the teleport gate in Kamdet on the seventy-fourth floor, he followed me. It even got to the point where Kirito had to duel him to get him to leave me alone."

"Yeah, it was a First Strike duel which I ended by breaking his weapon," Kirin interjected. "I call it Arms Blast. I basically try to pinpoint the weakest point of a weapon and hit it hard there with a sword skill, breaking it. He had tried attacking me with Avalanche but I easily just sidestepped and slammed the weak point of the sword with Radiant Arc."

"Sounds really cool," Nautilus said. "Anyways, are you seriously going to be fine, Kirito? I'm quite sure if we explain the situation to Heathcliff, he'll reconsider adding you into our ranks."

"No, it's fine," he insisted. "I'll confront him myself and state it straight to his face."

"Alright…" Everyone else finished their breakfast in silence. Asuna and Kirin worked together to clear the plates used by them for their food and dropped them in the sink. Asuna did the washing while Kirin went to create some bento for lunch, just in case they go hunting on the seventy-fifth floor for the Labyrinth following their report to Heathcliff.

Kirin sang, "Make some more sandwiches for me, Kirin!"

"Yeah, yeah," she said, figuratively waving him off. She put together some sandwiches and put it all together in a basket that Asuna had put on the counter. "Keep it in your inventory."

Asuna nodded and shoved the lunch into her inventory. "Alright, guys! Heads up high and chests puffed out! We're heading to the boss."

* * *

Fifteen minutes later…

Granzam, 55th Floor

Instead of just two players appearing out of blue light, it was five players. Kirin felt her feet touch the ground again as she stretched. "Ahh…" she sighed woefully. "This rather cold weather makes me want to ignore the summoning, head back to the fifty-ninth floor and just take a nap in the meadow."

Kirin, who had apparated directly to the right of her, crossed his arms and nodded with his eyes closed and a smug smile plastered on his face, "Yes, yes, you have good taste as well, Kirin. In beautiful weather, it is the perfect place to just lay down and fall asleep. Asuna and I napped there a few months ago."

On the right of Kirin, Asuna reddened intensely as she used both hands to hammer rapidly on his back. "Be quiet, be quiet, be quiet! No spilling the beans!"

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry!" he cried clearly hoping for absolvement for his crime of giving out a secret. "A-Anyways, aren't we here for something else?"

"I'll get you back later…" Asuna growled. "For now, let's go." She led the group out of the small rectangular area that was their landing point when teleporting from different floors and locations. They marched through the plaza, earning the stares of a great number of players who had gathered there for countless different purposes.

Said mumblings by onlooking players include:

"Hey… Isn't that the Lightning Flash of the Knights of the Blood?"

"That's the Snow White Songstress…"

"Our goddess!"

"Kirin-sama, you're the best!"

"Kirin-sama, continue working hard!"

"That's the Beater, Kirito, isn't it?"

"What's he doing with our goddesses?!"

"Hey, loser, don't think for a second you're worthy of their attention!"

"Yeah, get your loser ass out of there!"

"Wait, isn't he the one who basically soloed the seventy-fourth floor?"

"Yeah, he has a Unique Skill."

"Dual Blades or something."

Kirin sighed. She turned to Kirin and tried for a weak smile which was received and countered with a shrug. "They need to seriously stop this. They think that I'm _only_ useful for entertainment!"

"There, there, Kirin-shi," Asuna cooed. "Remain calm. Just ignore them."

"Easy for you to say," she countered. "You're not the one on the receiving end of their praise. Even though I don't dislike being praised, I dislike being praised excessively. I'm just another human person like them yet they treat me like I'm Aphrodite incarnate."

Kirin interrupted, "However, I believe the more pressing matter at hand is how do they know about my Unique Skill?"

"Quite possibly because of Klein," Nautilus suggested as he kept his palm on the pommel of his sword, Eternal Unrest, so he is ready to draw it at any time in case any of these players were insane enough to try and get personal with Kirin. He quickened his pace so that he walked beside her, a subtle sign he was acting as her bodyguard. He whisprered whispered in her ear, "You can rest easy, Major General. If any of these guys get close, I'll smack them with my sword."

"Thanks, Nautilus," Kirin said. They soon exited the plaza and marched into the streets where even the morning light had difficulty illuminating. The steel towers and buildings commanded a very deep and resounding foundation. They wove through the corridors until they got to the portcullis that was the entrance to the Knights of the Blood guild headquarters. Kirin yelled, "This is your Major General, Kirin! Lift high the gates!"

"Ma'am!" The four guards at the inner portion of the gate saluted and began rolling up the iron portcullis. Once it was safely out of the way, they stood at attention on opposite sides of the hallway and saluted again, this time, not speaking a word.

Asuna walked in first and ordered, "At ease, gentlemen." Still not speaking another word, they lowered their arms and locked them stiffly at their sides. In a single file, Kirin, Nautilus, Yuna, and finally, Kirin, walked inside. Asuna led them down the corridor and up the stairs just immediately past the common area which opened up on the left side. The stairs marched through the wall before breaking open into a large assembly room. "Commander, I've brought him."

Kirin stepped aside to reveal the black-clad swordsman. She took the time to once again, take in the view of the room even though she had seen it many times before. Directly across from the stairwell and the oakwood double doors they had just entered from was the half-moon-shaped Round Table conference table. Kirin slightly dipped her head to acknowledge her vision of Heathcliff before returning her gaze to the room yet again.

High above, a crystal chandelier with six arms hangs proudly from the ceiling. In the directions of nine and, three o'clock sits the pillars inscribed with the symbol of the guild. With those same designs on them, three red flags are hung in front of the nearly one-eighty-degree viewing window at the eleven, twelve, and one o'clock positions. The tiled floor beneath was an engineering marvel with lapis lazuli tiles interchanging with polished blue sandstone. Kirin returned her vision to the commander who was previously standing up and looking out of the window. He turned around at Asuna's voice and said, "Ah. Good work, Asuna."

Nautilus went to lean against the window while Yuna hid behind Kirin as Kirito marched into the room and rooted himself front and center. "So you're Heathcliff?"

"And you're Kirito," he repeated as he sat down in his seat at the head of the table. "To be perfectly honest, you do not seem like much."

"Really? You definitely look much more commanding in person."

"Why, thank you."

"None needed. Anyways, with all due respect, sir, I have been informed that you have specifically summoned me here for the reason of inviting me into this guild."

"Yes, indeed, that is my intention. Aincrad needs a player like yourself. One that was able to essentially defeat the seventy-fourth Floor Boss on his own with a special Unique Skill."

Kirito sighed. "News travels fast, huh? I did not expect so many people to know about the skill already."

"Yes, quite true. Twelve hours is more than enough time for information such as this to be released throughout Aincrad."

"I assume there is no way that I can refuse?"

"No, I am afraid not. I must insist that you join our ranks. It is for the benefit of us all."

"What would the benefits be for me?"

"What would it need to convince you? Money? Rare items? Perhaps, even Asuna?"

Asuna tripped over herself as she stammered, "Ex-Excuse me?!"

Heathcliff raised an eyebrow. "What seems to be the problem? I am merely complimenting you on your exquisitely fine finesse."

"Amazing," she said, the sarcasm in her voice as obvious as her chestnut hair, "Commander, last I checked, magic was nonexistent in this world. However, here you are, weaving your spells and turning women into trophies."

Heathcliff held up his arms in surrender. "You know that I jest. On another note, I must insist again, Kirito. This world needs you. This world needs you to be the torch that provides the guiding light. Just name your price."

Kirito crossed his arms and smiled. "Well… I suppose the one thing I want to ask for is a duel with you."

Heathcliff raised an eyebrow. "Oh? How interesting."

"I personally believe it is better to settle this with the sword rather than with the eloquence of words."

"Yes, go on."

"I shall set the terms. If I win, I will regretfully refuse your kind offer to join the guild as well as take Asuna as my trophy," he began.

"Hey!" Asuna protested.

Ignoring her, Kirito continued, "However, if I lose and I quite doubt that will happen, I will accept your offer to join the guild. However, you must make me a high-ranking member."

Heathcliff scratched his chin, deep in thought. "You drive a very hard bargain, Kirito." He then turned to his chief financial officer, a fellow aged man named Daizen, and asked. "What are your thoughts on this?"

"I personally have taken a liking for these terms," he stated. "I don't see any problem with accepting them."

"Alright, it has been set," Heathcliff said but before he could continue, he was cut off by Kirin.

"With all due respect, Commander, I would like to take responsibility for this duel," she declared as she marched from her location at the back of the room to the front. Upon arriving at the designated location she had chosen, a spot about two meters away from the table, she stamped her feet and rooted herself to the spot before spinning around and pointing her left index finger at Kirin. "I'll be the one to duel you, Kirito."

Heathcliff's eyebrow rose ever higher. "Oh? Why must you burden yourself so, Kirin?"

"This is something that I would want to fight over," she explained. "I have been wanting to test Kirito's skills again. The First Strike duel I challenged him to two months ago resulted in my loss. However, this time, I won't hold back. I will stake all my pride in defeating you."

Kirito smiled playfully. "Are you sure, Kirin-chan?"

"Don't use that honorific on me anymore!" she demanded. "I'll have you know just how much I have improved!"

Heathcliff clapped once to silence the room and announced, "Let it be so. The duel is to take place tomorrow exactly two hours before noon. The conditions are as follows: Kirito's victory will result in his refusal to join our guild and Asuna as a trophy, however, in the event that Kirito is defeated, he will be integrated into our ranks and he will be given a position of high rank within the guild. Am I stating this correctly?"

Kirito nodded. "Yes. I shall abide by these terms."

"Very well," Heathcliff continued. "Asuna, Kirin, Nautilus, Yuna. You are hereby dismissed. Kirito, I will look forward to you in our ranks."

"No thanks to you, '_Commander_'," he replied. Turning on his heels, Kirito led the vanguard as he marched through the double doors leading the other four players as the distant sounds of fate tick through the world.


	8. An Inkling of Evil Chapter III Part I

Later that day…

1245 AST

A dirt road in the plains of the 75th Floor leading into the main city of Collinia.

_Another day alone, another day in these damned rat ways…_ An annoyed Shimakaze thought as he lazily walked the plains of the seventy-fifth floor. _Of course, not today at least. I'm only here to map the floor itself._ Yes, Shimakaze's job was to map the seventy-fifth floor which was recently opened at two hours and forty minutes past noon the previous day. However, this wasn't the reason why he was annoyed. He was simply especially irritated that the commander had outright declined his request to be stationed to Kirin who was resting in the Lieutenant General's house in Selmburg at that time. However, Shimakaze had expected this outcome especially considering that Heathcliff has full trust in his skill in one-on-one combat scenarios, in which Heathcliff told him that he was more suited to being a 'lone wolf', so to speak.

Thus, Shimakaze began his seemingly everlasting journeys into countless floors, continuing his countless days, weeks even, of being alone. Even with his rather cool and collect attitude, even _he_ would be fed up with it if he was going alone all this time. The dull sound of his boots slapping against the dirt road, the fresh scent of the air protruded in his nostrils with every breath he took endlessly teasing and tempting him to just shirk his duties for a while and relax in the grass. However, the searing discomfort of his legs from hours of non-stop walking prevented him from attempting to ignore his job as he let out a sigh and pushed forwards.

"Find the main city, hopefully, discover the entrance of the Labyrinth and the circumstances surrounding the Field Boss before reporting to headquarters." Those were his orders, which at the time, seemed to be a relatively easy task. However, he realizes now that it was easier said than done as he remembered his parents' words, which made his skin crawl while also dismissing the phobia with a brief shaking of his head. It was easier said than done because Shimakaze's task was to discover the Labyrinth entrance, do battle against the field boss alone whilst observing the patterns the boss utilizes and all the while, finding weak points in its defenses and remembering it all to give a detailed report.

As Shimakaze thought about the countless times he battled the bosses, the countless times he almost died for what… A way to get out of the game? A way to escape? Yes… Indeed… He didn't know why he kept this job; maybe he thought that resigning from the job would prove that he was weak and a coward, however, Shimakaze wanted to prove he was not a coward, nor a weak player. He wanted to be known yet how would anyone know him if he never killed a boss, never actually dealt the Last Attack? This was the true pain of being the reconnaissance man: you do all this hard work, all the hours of battling against a single boss, memorizing every single pattern of attack, every skill, and the stages of the boss... but as they say, ashes to ashes, dust to dust.

Shimakaze's thoughts were interrupted by a distant and dull noise of boots slapping against the dirt road, very much like his own. Shimakaze was immediately on high alert. He disliked the terrain of this floor as it had no good hiding places sans the several trees dotted across the landscape. He remained at his current pace, halfway between walking and running. Perhaps, these fellows were also on the mission of mapping out the floor.

As Shimakaze kept his pace, he heard the sound of steel clashing as if the players were banging their swords on each other's or hitting their shields with it. He kept going, hearing the sounds of voices even _laughing_, which made Shimakaze's blood run cold. What players in their right mind would be laughing on a floor this high up? Even outside of the Labyrinth, most would be quiet and tense, just waiting for the moment that monsters and enemies strike. As he made his way ever so closer to the ancient walled city just over yonder, the steel clashing stopped with dead silence in its place.

"Well, well, well; look what the cat dragged in boys~," a gruff-sounding man said, as the other seven men snickered to themselves. The man who had spoken was bald, at least, from what Shimakaze could make out of his head since he was wearing a cloak as well as a mask. Emblazoned on his bare left arm was the insignia of the Laughing Coffin guild, which made Shimakaze immediately tense up just to be in the same field with these volatile and psychotic people. "A member of the Knights of the Blood and a fancy one at that," he continued. "Oh, he's also a higher-up! We ought to get some good loot if we kill and steal from him." he chuckled, as the others let out manic guffaws.

Shimakaze took a step back. "You insane ruffians!" he yelled, palming the hilt of his sword. "Don't think it will be easy to steal from me. I'm not like those other targets of yours."

"Hah!" he laughed. "You sure have a big mouth! Well, we were honestly waiting here for a _certain solo player_ to show up but I think a Blood Knight such as yourself will suffice, for the time being, especially one that's all alone and unprotected." The Laughing Coffin guild members began to encircle Shimakaze, like wolves surrounding a sick catch. The crazy smiles on their faces seared into Shimakaze's mind, like paint to a canvas which is in the process of creating a simple masterpiece, one that instilled fear and madness into their intended target which unfortunately _worked_ although for a completely different reason, as Shimakaze began to shake slightly in his boots from the adrenaline running through his veins.

"A solo player… You wouldn't mean… _Kirito_, would you..?" Shimakaze implored to the man, with the man nodding in response.

"You'll soon be a dead man anyway so I guess I could humor you," the man said quite matter-of-factly as his bizarre smile widened. "Kirito, the Black Swordsman, the symbol of hope for all the pathetic players that cannot defend themselves. We were given the order to kill him. End the symbol of hope…" Trailing off, a manic laugh began to escape from the man, a deep laugh that originated from the pit of his stomach.

"You wouldn't be able to, I shall say," Shimakaze growled in defense, his jaw tensing up.

"Shut your mouth, you insignificant cur!" he shouted, forcing spittle to fly from his mouth. "We're going to kill him, then the next best thing. The Child Idol, the little girl that thinks she's all that. What's her name again…" he looked to his guildmates, with a smile.

"Kirin, I think, sir. Since she's so famous, her name in real life is also well-known here. Ayanami Shiratsuyu, I believe? Plus, she has quite the looks as well." the addressed guildmate answered as he chuckled to himself.

Shimakaze felt a pang in the pit of his stomach as a deep rage began to burn within him. Finally taking the time to observe the name of the one who appears to be the 'commander' of this assault team, XaXa, he drew out his weapon, a one-handed sword, Saintblade Alpha, and pointed it directly at his throat. "Watch your mouth!" he demanded.

"Seems like we struck a chord." one man said.

"Appears so~," the one who had revealed Kirin as their second target chimed in.

"Maybe after we kill him, we could kidnap that girl, have our way with her, then slowly torture her until she runs out of health," XaXa said as his voice sank into further revelry of carnage. "And as she takes her last breath, we'll say that you, sir, were the cause of the fall of the Knights of the Blood!" At this last sentence, every single member erupted into deafeningly insane laughter.

Shimakaze grasped onto his sword so tightly his knuckles turned white, while his jawline tensed up and his teeth ground against each other. His eyes flashing wild anger, like a cornered animal, he growled, "If you… say… another _word_, I will _end_ all of you here and now…"

"As if," XaXa laughed. "Look around you. You're trapped and we have you surrounded. One against eight doesn't look like very good odds, if you drop all your items, maybe we'll make your end swift." As if the threat wasn't enough, they all drew their weapons and brandished them.

_Damn it…_ Shimakaze's eyes narrowed, as he examined the other players while the sunlight battered harshly on them. They had surrounded him on all sides in an almost perfect octagon. They knew what they were doing, to say the least. _I only stand a chance if I could get them separated…_ he thought to himself, before nodding to himself. "If you think you could kill me, go ahead. Stop talking big and let our steel clash instead of our words." Shimakaze growled out to the leader, who thought that buying some time would help his situation since he needed to think of a way out of this pickle he found himself in. _If only I didn't play the damn hero…_ The leader of the band of murderers brandished a large Warhammer, his response to Shimakaze's sudden act of bravado. He chuckled again to Shimakaze, eyeing him suspiciously.

"Say… We _killed_ enough time talking… Where are your little bloodies too?" XaXa asked, his voice but a deep growl, like a demonic entity speaking through a medium. "You guys don't usually run around alone, especially not on floors like this… Are you alone or something?" he asked, imploring Shimakaze to answer his questions. It was getting increasingly more obvious that this person had some mental issues. "It's less fun if there's only one insect to crush…" he muttered to himself, then shaking his head, regaining his composure. "Why're you alone!?" he yelled, his questions making him more enraged than anything.

"Finally, a sensible question." Shimakaze snickered to himself, the adrenaline, anger, and fear beginning to take a toll on his already frail mental wellbeing. "I am… _special_… I would say," Shimakaze told them with a smile. "I was tasked by the High Commander himself with the hardship of finding the main settlements of every floor and discovering the entrance of the Labyrinth as well as gather information on the Field Bosses guarding said entrances. With this, I report back to the High Commander, then he proceeds to make the correct preparations of storming the Labyrinth to ensure a complete victory without any failure. We've had an almost one hundred percent success rate, although we've suffered minor casualties." he added, with almost a minuscule sense of humiliation. "It's a pretty courageous task to be given. Of course, not without many hardships."

Hearing those words caused the leader and also the members of the guild to take a moment of silence, processing the words they just heard. They were stunned as they thought that no one man would be able to defeat a field boss entirely on their own! (They are wrong; they jumped to conclusions far too fast.) It was ludicrous for this 'knight' to suggest that he was at the spearhead of such deeds as this. "Lies…" the leader refuted. "Lies… That is all a bluff!" The words oozed pure disgust as he continued, spitting further insults at Shimakaze, "No one is sane enough to attempt that… You're a filthy liar! You're scum, the gristle on my boot."

_You've made a fatal mistake… Letting down your guard so easily._ With that, a switch in Shimakaze flipped, a switch now not of survival, no…

It was something greater, something more sinister…

It was the switch that kept a person's bloodlust in check and it had been flipped on.

In order to vent the rage he had amassed, the stresses he had endured…

It was now a new game. A game of their survival, and his fun.

Shimakaze's arms went limp but the sword was held firmly in his hand and with a powerful push of his left leg he rushed towards the cloaked XaXa, surprising him and giving him a preemptive edge. He used the force of his weight created through his sprinting and crashed full-force into XaXa using his right shoulder, knocking the wind out of him. Taking this opportunity, Shimakaze's sword glowed a deep red as he attacked the man three times with Sharp Nail.

Before the post-motion delay kicked in, Shimakaze put a foot into XaXa's abdomen, sending him rolling into the grass with his health hovering in the yellow due to a lucky critical hit. Eyeing the others who were all staring open-mouthed and frozen in fear, he launched himself towards another member after the delay wore off. With a single elegant movement and a yellow sword, Shimakaze's Slant cut into the man's shoulder who howled in faked pain. Locked in place by yet another short post-motion delay, Shimakaze groaned as he felt a dagger enter his back. When the delay wore off, he rolled off of the weapon and onto his knees a meter away. Keeping an eye on his health which was still in the green but could fluctuate dangerously at any moment, Shimakaze's sword glowed an electric purple as he unleashed Horizontal Arc, slashing to the right almost horizontally yet slightly angled at one member, opening a cut in his chest, before the blade slashed horizontally but from the right, grazing another player's arm.

The other members, as with the end of their initial shock, began to respond to Shimakaze. They looked at one another and then rushed towards him. The closes uninjured member to Shimakaze swung his blade towards his head which Shimakaze barely evaded, a centimeter of loose hair flew through the air before fading away into pixels. Shimakaze saw a slight opening in which at the end of the swing he placed his hand on his adversary's dominant shoulder, using his free hand to grapple onto the man's wrist and with one swift movement, he wrestled his wrist forcing him to drop his weapon onto the dirt road. The Laughing Coffin member whose arm was cut with the previous Horizontal Arc tried stabbing at Shimakaze but he used the hostage he was holding in his grip as a shield. He let go as the weapon impaled the hostage's body before stepping back a few and summoning energy into his sword, discoloring it into a sickly moss green. He quickly made two slashes left and right, the speed of his attack almost impossible to follow with the naked eye. Two new cuts opened in the other two members all at the same time, a testament to the insane speed of Snake Bite.

_Six…_

After the two he had attacked with Snake Bite collapsed forward, Shimakaze spotted the last two standing preparing to use a sword skill but gave them no time. He threw his sword at one member, impaling him directly in the abdomen before throwing himself at the last untouched member and judo-flipping him into the ground. He scrambled over to grab his sword which the member had yanked out of his stomach. Sheathing it, Shimakaze darted away at top speed, his eyes locked on the front gates of the main settlement, modeled after Rome. He thought, _I need to report this occurrence to Heathcliff immediately._ Entering the city, he waved to the NPCs, saying, "I'm just out on a run!" He then ran through the city searching for the Teleport Gate Plaza. After five minutes of wandering the city and asking the NPCs for the location, he found it.

The Teleport Gate Plaza of Collinia (he had learned of the name of the city from an NPC) was set in an area that can be likened as the Parthenon atop the Athenian Acropolis but reversed. Instead of the floor rising up, it stepped down into the earth. There were still assorted columns in the fashion of Doric, Corinthian, and Ionic orders although they supported nothing. The afternoon sun shone mercilessly down on him. "Phew, this is quite a beautiful city. As much as I would like to explore, I need to head back to Granzam to report of my discovery…" He marched down into the plaza and up to the gate. Stepping into it, he conjured up an image of the Teleport Gate Plaza of Granzam. Suddenly, he felt his body disappear as he metamorphosed into blue light.

1300 AST

Granzam, 55th Floor.

Appearing out of the gate, Shimakaze landed on his toes. He took off at a sprint and ran towards the castle which held their headquarters. Appearing at the front gates, a high-ranking guild member with orange-brown hair standing guard acknowledged Shimakaze's presence with a stiff salute and a "Captain Shimakaze, welcome back!"

"Thank you, Godfree. Is the commander in?"

"I do believe he is. Have you discovered the Labyrinth entrance?"

"Not quite…" That was the only answer Shimakaze gave Godfree before he charged inside, dashing down the hallway and into the meeting hall. He expected Heathcliff to be seated in his chair as usual but he was gone. Confused, he began to investigate the room before he came across a note plastered on the desk. He picked it up and began to read it, "Kirito will enter the Knights of the Blood. Kirin is the ticket." His hand shook as he processed the words. "Kirito… That Kirito is going to enter our guild…? And what does he mean with Ayanami-sama being the ticket…? I don't understand…"

Suddenly, a new voice interrupted his train of thought. "That's because the Black Swordsman and the Snow White Songstress will duel ere long."

Shimakaze whirled around and found himself staring at a rather well-endowed teenage girl with flowing blonde hair and piercing blue eyes leaning against the west pillar, the pillar on the right if you were standing at the entrance of the room. "Who-" he began.

The girl held a finger up to her lips as she continued, "The Black Swordsman will become a member of the Knights if he loses the duel."

"Who are you?" Shimakaze asked again, his hand palming the hilt of his sword.

The girl held both her arms up in an "I surrender" gesture before stating, "I am Lux. I'm just an information broker."

"… How accurate is your information?"

"Pretty accurate. I mean, walk outside and check the newspapers. I'm telling ya, they're not there yet but the headlines later today will just be all about the big duel tomorrow."

"… I see. How did you manage to get inside?"

"I just asked the guard at the gate nicely, telling him I wanted to see ya."

He was stumped. Of course, what the girl said was an absolute lie. However, he decided not to press any further. It cramped on his style to be prying about the secrets of women. "Okay then… Well, I'm tired as hell so I'm going to just leave and head back to my dorm to take a nap." Without even a proper goodbye, Shimakaze walked past her and back into the main hallway.

"Have fun, mate," she called after him. "Hope ya can rest and recharge them calories."

* * *

Even later that same day…

1555 AST.

Amaryllis Guild Headquarters, Serinuma, 60th Floor.

"Hono-chan, the news is going _pretty crazy_, you know," the girl stated matter-of-factly. "I can't find anything on the front page that's not related to the Black Swordsman or the Idol."

"I bet, they're both pretty famous." A young boy with spiky-jet black hair and short stature, who appeared to be roughly 14 years old, walked over from one of the rear bedrooms. "I'd honestly do anything to meet the Idol. I mean, I can't get her newest song out of my head. Have you heard it? 'WHiRlPoOL'-"

"Give it a break, Ryuuji," interrupted a girl with long, wavy white hair.

"Strelka! I told you already, call me '_Strenneta_' in-game!" interjected the young boy. "I swear, one of these days, you'll get a taste of my daggers."

"Well, this kinda is our real life. We're stuck in this forsaken death game for god's sake. Not to mention we all know each other… out there, in the true reality."

"I suppose you have a point…" Letting out a sigh, Strenetta sat down in the corner booth next to Strelka. He opened up his menu and switched to his inventory submenu, manifesting what looked to be a jet-black flask, which he proceeded to take a sip from. He downed the entire flask with a single, huge gulp, the flask dematerializing a moment later. "So, what's this about a duel?"

The girl holding the newspaper slid the newspaper across the table, causing it to slide all the way over to Strenetta. Sure enough, on the front page was an article about an upcoming duel. "The Idol of Aincrad versus the Black Swordsman! A Duel of the Ages. That's what it says here," he said, as he traced a finger over the paper. "Interesting. I'll look forward to watching them go at it." He then handed it to their guild leader.

She looked at it once and raised an eyebrow. "Hmm, yes. I think we should all be in attendance to watch." She looked up from her desk at her guildmates, an assortment of six best friends, all who shared deep ties with each other and Stravellia herself.


	9. An Inkling of Evil Chapter III Part II

In the evening…

2130 AST.

Living room of Asuna's house, Selmburg, 61st Floor.

"So…"

It was Kirin that had broke the silence. The time was half past nine in the evening when everyone else had turned in for the night. Kirin had thought that they were late, a bit _too_ late for her liking. They usually turned in at around eight or even seven in the evening. However, when Asuna returned earlier, she briefed Kirin on their circumstances.

Apparently, the Commander had ordered the high-ranking officers of the Knights of the Blood which unfortunately included Asuna, Nautilus, and Yuna to run throughout the castle of Aincrad to spread the news about Kirito and Kirin's duel. They had done their job until well past nine that evening. By the time they got home, Asuna complained about how tired they were and decided that they were going to crash. However, both Kirito and Kirin were wide awake.

The silence was stifling. Even with Kirin's voice, the silence sat on them like a chokingly heavy layer of air. Kirito cleared his throat. "Okay, so… Shouldn't we head to bed soon?"

"I'm honestly a tad bit too jittery to head to bed right now…"

She had stated the obvious. Kirito himself was feeling uncharacteristically hyperactive at that moment. He was unconsciously using his fingers to intensely tap his knees at a rapid pace while also rapping his toes on the wood floor. Instead, he decided to use this time to inspect Kirin's appearance.

He had really never taken the time to do a careful inspection of her. , fully clothed in her nightwear, consisting of a linen fabric top and bottom as well as closed sandals that protected her delicate feet from the cold atmosphere. "Here," he said, handing her the tape measure back. He had earlier borrowed a tape measure-like item from Kirin to check his height when Asuna returned and told them the news. "A-Anyways, it's pretty late… We should head to bed now, Su-, I mean, Kirin."

At that uncharacteristic slip-up, Kirin tilted her head in confusion. "Huh? 'Su'?"

"It's nothing," he replied quickly. "Let's go to sleep."

"No, who is 'Su'?"

"Like I said, it's nothing."

"I want you to spill. It's only fair that I know a little bit of your personal life since you know a lot of my own."

He sighed as he gave up on arguing because of her rather logical reasoning. "Fine. I almost called you 'Sugu' because you remind me too much about my younger sister, Suguha, though we're not really siblings. In reality, we're cousins."

"I-I see… Then why did you almost call me that?"

He shamefully scratched the back of his head as his eyes darted around the room, trying to find something interesting to look at that isn't Kirin. "I, uh…" He then abruptly bowed in her direction. "I'm sorry, I can't help but think of you as a younger sister. Excuse my entirely ostentatious and careless slip of the tongue. How rude of me to accidentally call you my kin."

Kirin put her hands behind her back and began to shyly bounce back and forth, sending her weight to her right foot then her left foot before returning weight to her right foot. As a girl with no siblings, being called a 'little sister' struck a chord with her. She mumbled shyly, "Um… If that's the case… Ca-Can I… Can I call you 'Nii-sama'?"

Kirito blinked several times as he tried to process the sound waves entering his eardrums and his brain. "Uh… I…. Uh…"

Kirin smiled brightly. "It's settled then! I look forward to our fight tomorrow, Nii-sa~ma." She happily skipped out of the living area to go to her bedroom but not before playfully sticking her tongue out at the boy.

Exasperated, Kirito let out a long breath. "That girl…" Although miffed, he was secretly glad that she had agreed to call him her elder brother. From what he could recall of the research that he had done of Ayanami Shiratsuyu, she was the only child of father Kotarou Shiratsuyu, a highly respected as well as a highly ranked member of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces whose own father had served on the ship of the same name during the Second Great War. Her mother was Akagi Shiratsuyu, a boisterous and retired former model who had gained much fame during her early adult years.

Perhaps, she was lonely. She had no older siblings, ones that she can look up to as examples. She has no younger siblings, ones who would use her as their role model as they went through life. It was just an elaborate jest, one that was surely going to be laughed at if anyone discovered it, however, Kazuto Kirigaya was fine with it. As long as she was happy… With these thoughts in mind, the boy proceeded to fall into the endless void of the world of dreams as he slept peacefully on the couch.

* * *

Twentieth Day of the Month of the Ash Tree, 2024

0953 AST

Just outside of the Coliseum, Collinia, 75th Floor.

"I think we did our job a little _too_ well…" Nautilus stated.

He was commenting on the fact that the Coliseum, the main attraction in Collinia, the main settlement of the seventy-fifth floor, is soon to be filled to the absolute brim with both player and non-player character spectators alike. Asuna added, "I didn't think that their duel would attract this much player attention…"

"Even the NPCs are coming to watch," Yuna pointed out. "Daizen-san, are you sure that it's a good idea to charge NPCs the entrance fee?" Yuna was talking about the 50 Cor entrance fee that the Knights were charging spectators.

"I don't see a reason not to," the rather fat man in full uniform replied. "Besides, they have been paying quite the large sums. I have lost count of how many people have paid the fee but '_accidentally_' gave extra."

"The NPCs must be looking forward to this more than we do then," Nautilus concluded as he entered into a state of thinking. "They must be thankful for the entertainment which could explain why they're paying extra, knowing that they _are_ paying extra.

"Considering that this floor is mostly based off of ancient Rome," Asuna added. "I can see why."

After the last few paid their bills and walked inside, Daizen declared, "Alright, that should be the last of them. Let's head back inside and watch this spectacular duel that is sure to go down in the history of Aincrad, surely to transcend the boundaries of the game and to be retold in the real world."

* * *

0958 AST

Center Stage, the Coliseum.

The familiar voice of Yuna rang full-power throughout the Coliseum as she shouted, dragging out her sentences, "_Welcome to the Coliseum here in our wonderful city of Collinia! Here, we are in attendance to observe the most-awaited event to ever occur in the history of Aincrad! A duel between the Snow White Songstress, Kirin, and the Black Swordsman, Kirito!_" The crowd roared enthusiastically in response. "_My name is Yuna! You guys know me as the White Lily! I will be your commentator serving alongside Miss Rain!_"

Nijika's voice resounded next: "_Yes, hello, I am the Red-haired Flash, Rain. As an idol who debuted under her, my opinion may be biased as she is my senior. Nevertheless, I am extremely excited at the prospects of this duel._"

Kirin was taken aback. She was so surprised, she was almost tempted to change the main attraction from a duel to a concert. Standing in the dirt floor in the center of the Coliseum, she waved at the crowd which only made the crowd even more excited and shout louder. She then made a fist with her right hand. Immediately, the noise deadened and Yuna yelled, "_Oh, our idol wishes for silence!_"

Kirin then whistled appreciatively. "Man, when Asuna told me what her job was last night, I expected only several hundred players to come and watch our fight. I didn't expect the _entire_ player base as well as an _overly healthy_ addition of NPCs to come."

"Must be nice for someone like you who is already used to the attention and the crowds," Kirito replied, clearly disliking the attention.

"I don't blame them honestly," she said sagely. "I mean, consider the statuses of the players fighting today. Firstly, we have me. Most of the player base, of course, insists on calling me by my real name: Ayanami Shiratsuyu. Some of the more decent ones call me by my in-game name of Kirin (She looked knowingly out of the corner of her eyes in his direction). Then there's the alias they gave me: Snow White Songstress. I do admit, I like having my hair complimented. It's the only decent present the less-than-decent players have given me.

"On the other side of the coin, there's you (She pointed at him with her index finger) Kirito, the Black Swordsman. Famed to be the one who labeled himself as a 'Beater' following the boss battle on the first floor. I still remember that, by the way; it was quite the joke. Anyways, for the past two years, your fame has just simply been increasing exponentially. You are renowned for being the most powerful of the solo players, remaining completely neutral in the matter of guilds. Now, your fame has again received another boost. The fact that your Unique Skill, Dual Blades, allows you to wield two swords at once and use sword skills that utilize both swords at the same time? Of course, the attention you are getting is justified."

He sighs and shrugs. "Well, there's nothing we can do but duel now, can we? I am honestly against all this attention but of course, little miss idol over here loves it."

"Shut up. You know I don't like too much attention."

"Yes, yes, my lady," he replied. "I apologize for speaking out of turn." He then waved his hand in the air, calling up the menu before hovering over the Communications menu and scrolling through the 'Befriend' and 'Trade' options. He stopped at the 'Duel' option and pressed it.

The request was sent towards Kirin as she stated, "I'm going to up the stakes just a bit."

Knowing what she was implying, Kirito raised an eyebrow. "'_Half Loss Mode_'?"

"Indeed."

"Don't bring it too close, alright? I don't like being in the yellow, much less the red zone."

"Yes, yes, I'll try not to use any high-damage sword skills," she replied. She raised her right hand and tapped on the blue circle and set the duel type to 'Half Loss', as previously agreed. "Besides, I'll always heal you with my voice after our fight has concluded anyways."

The panel apparated into the sky and showed the names of the two duelists as well as the countdown which began to count from sixty. "_The countdown has begun!_" Yuna shouted. "_Who shall rise victorious? Only the blade dance that begins soon will determine this answer!_"

Kirin drew her blade, Breakwind, and held it in her right hand. However, this time, she decided to change her beginning stance. She held her blade in a double-handed grip and turned her body to the right. The palm of her right hand faced her while the palm of her left faced outwards: an opposite grip. The one cutting edge of her weapon faced upwards and her hands positioned close to her face.

On the other hand, Kirito simply extracted Elucidator and Dark Repulser from their hilts and held them loosely in each hand (Elucidator right, Dark Repulser left). He stood lightly on the toes of his feet. The countdown clicked zero and the duel began. Being the faster of the two, Kirin made the first move. Letting go of her left-hand grip, her sword glowed a bright pale blue as she charged forward at a blinding speed. Of course with Kirito being Kirito, he was able to shut out Kirin's Rage Spike with the purely defensive and counterattack-capable Specular Cross (he made an X with both swords, the flats of the blades touching each other to reinforce the defensive capability). Indeed, the counterattack came. In two quick movements, Kirito slashed horizontally to the left with his left sword and vertically from the top with his right sword, leaving a trail of blinding white light as well as opening two shallow gash lines in Kirin's flesh. "_Oh my, first blood goes to Contestant Kirito!_" Yuna declared.

Thankfully, Kirin was far enough away for the wounds dealt with Kirito's weapon to be shallow and once she had recovered from her freeze, she hopped backward. "Tch, you ended up hitting me first…"

"Yeah," he said smugly. "If anything, I'm surprised your health didn't drop significantly from that sword skill." Intrigued, Kirito checked her own health and it had only dropped by a matter of forty points, namely, less than two percent.

"How so?"

"Aside from Starburst Stream and The Eclipse, Specular Cross is just about the most powerful sword skill in my inventory."

"Oh?"

"Yeah," he continued. "I've only tested it once before and the skill was more than enough to one-shot a field boss on the seventy-second floor. It's quite amazing."

"I see. The only assumption I can make is that since only the tips of your swords touched me, the full effect of the skill fails to activate, leaving only these minor cuts."

"Unfortunate," he noted. "I'll have to make sure to watch where I use this… It is the most overpowered counterattack sword skill but it is weak if the blade doesn't cut deep enough…"

Ayanami knew she was pulling an underhanded move but nevertheless, she did it anyway. Using her speed, she disappeared from sight as Kirito was deliberating the usefulness of Specular Cross and reappeared behind him, her sword poised to use the sky blue-clad Horizontal sword skill. However, Kirito also managed to block the strike using Elucidator, holding it behind his back. "Tch, should've expected this outcome as well."

"No, no, my dear sister," Kirito teased, using Kirin's nickname from the night before. "That won't work against me."

Yuna's voice yelled, "_And Contestant Kirito manages to shut Contestant Kirin out yet again!_" Kirito returned his grip to normal and turned around, now facing in the direction Kirin started out in.

"Well, if that's all you're going to do, I'll attack!" he declared. His swords both glowed a deep blue-green as he held his two swords down and out before slashing inwards with both in a rather depressed X-shaped fashion. Kirin barely managed to seal off those strikes before he took his left sword and slashed directly downwards from the top which she dodged by leaning to the right but had to bring her sword above her as he slashed downwards with the right sword. He then struck a surprise blow by drawing in his left sword and slashing from the right, under his right arm. She felt the blade enter her flesh before immediately beginning to chant the Regenerative Healing incantation (had she not began chanting, she would've lost the duel there as her health had begun creeping into the yellow zone, around sixty percent of a full health bar).

Stepping back, Kirito unleashed a thrust with both swords that she managed to seal off with the flat of her blade which was actually built for blocking (her sword had a bonus of an increased chance to break a weapon if the opposing weapon was thrust into Breakwind's flat edge). He then drew back again and slashed upwards with both swords from the bottom which she again managed to seal off. Kirin took several steps back as she completed the first stanza of her incantation, bringing her health back to the max. "Should expect this much from my cute little sister," he said, nodding sagely. "To think you managed to completely block my Rage Inferno sword skill."

"Six-hit combo?" she asked.

"No, it's actually a nine-hit combo," he replied. "I guess the system counts strikes with both swords in this sword skill as two hits." He then glanced at his skill bank and cursed under his breath: Specular Cross is still on cooldown, leaving him essentially completely open to attacks by sword skills. Having not missed this fact, Kirin's sword glowed crimson as she charged forwards, aiming directly at his chest. Due to being distracted by checking cooldown times, he only had enough time to bring up his swords (again, in the fashion of Specular Cross) in an attempt to block the sword skill but only managed to deflect the thrust upwards which resulted in him being impaled in the right shoulder whilst losing his grip on his left sword. Ayanami shot past and over his shoulder where she rolled into the dirt and sat up facing Kazuto's back. Her body froze in the post-motion delay as she planted her sword in the dirt as insurance against losing her newly regained balance and falling over (she isn't at risk anymore because of her frozen body though). His left hand now free, he held his right shoulder as if in pain (impossible because of the Pain Absorber system). "To think you'd use Vorpal Strike right there…"

"Even your Specular Cross skill wouldn't be able to counter against this one, no?"

"I don't think so," he replied, defeated. However, he had not given up on the duel just yet. He went over to where Dark Repulser sat impaled in the dirt and grabbed it, returning it to his grip.

"_What an amazing play!_" Yuna exclaimed. "_Strategically striking when the Specular Cross skill would be on cooldown! As expected of the Major General!_" The crowd wholeheartedly agreed by shouting unbelievably loud.

With her delay wearing off, she stood up, her sword held ready. "Well, shall we continue?"

"Thought you'd never ask." This time, only his right sword, Elucidator, changed colors, glowing a deep crimson. If she had expected this, she would've easily been able to dodge. However, she didn't expect him to use the exact same sword skill she had just used against him. He dashed towards her and the only effective counter that she could muster in her mind was to use another sword skill. Her sword glowing an Alice blue hue, she brought all her energy into a full-power downwards slash, slightly angled to the right while sidestepping to the right. Her strike was enough to slam Elucidator down towards the floor. She then quickly reversed her grip and slashed upwards to finish off a rough V-shape. With him being carried forward with the momentum of the sword skill, he couldn't avoid being wounded by this strike. Her sword cleanly passed through his abdomen and out under his left armpit as her sword lost momentum and she tumbled forwards.

"Urk," she mumbled as she hit the dirt for the second time that day (although it was only her knees). She looked at the wound in her stomach which was the result of Elucidator rocketing into her gut as she parried it away. The duel's end was approaching as Kirito's health hovered at sixty-three percent while Kirin's was at a lofty eighty-one percent.

"You keep surprising me more and more, Kirin," he grumbled. "Countering Vorpal Strike with Vertical Arc? As expected of you and your quick brain."

"_Whoa, whoa, whoa!_" This time, it was Rain who couldn't hold her excitement in. "_As expected of Senpai! Defending against a sword skill by using another sword skill? Amazing!_"

Kirin shook her head slightly and replied, "It was actually a fluke. I was unable to react in time to you so I decided off the top of my head to use a two-hit sword skill whose trajectory would do me an excellent job in deflecting an extremely high-powered thrust like Vorpal Strike while at the same time, allowing me to counterattack."

"Your brain is a powerful enemy…" he said, shivering. "I have to be glad that I'm not one of the monsters who have to fight against your intelligence."

"Thank you for the compliment, Nii-sa~ma," she said, teasing him with the new nickname she gave him just the night before.

"Oh, be quiet," he chided. Kirin's eyes widened as both swords began to glow aquamarine resulting in her decision to take Klein's advice. Before the duel, he had pulled her aside and suggested that she counter Kirito's Unique Skill by also equipping two swords. However, the downside is that sword skills are still limited to only one-handed sword skills. On the other hand, the upside to this downside is the fact that proficient users of '_Skill Connect_' will be able to chain one-handed sword skills together to enact the '_illusion_' of '_using Dual Blades Sword Skills_'. She quickly opened her menu and equipped her beloved second weapon, Arcturus, which was sourced from the Last Attack Bonus on the sixty-fourth floor.

As he charged forwards to begin his unstoppable assault of Starburst Stream, Kirin's blade manifested on her back before quickly unsheathing it. "_What is this? What is this?!_" Yuna exclaimed.

"_Surprise after surprise!_" Rain added. "_Contestant Kirin has decided to counter Contestant Kirito's Unique Skill by equipping a second blade!_"

"_However, this raises the question_," Yuna declared. "_What does Contestant Kirin have planned as she is unable to use sword skills like Contestant Kirito due to being restricted to one-handed sword skills?_"

"_Indeed_," Rain agreed. "_The only answer is to continue watching this incredibly intense war between two warriors!_"

Meanwhile, Kirin had managed to counter and deflect all of Kirito's strikes, surprising even him. "Guh… Those were some _very heavy_ strikes…" She looked at her own HP which had dwindled down into a dangerous sixty-nine percent while Kazuto's still hovered at sixty-one percent.

"You keep surprising me, Kirin," Kirito stated. "I didn't expect that you grew this strong already. I feel as if there is nothing more I can teach you."

"Of course," she replied haughtily. "Like you, I have studied in a family-run dojo. My school isn't named after my family though but instead, is named after the sword style taught there."

"Oh? May I inquire what this 'sword style' is?"

"It's called Authentic No-Sword Style," she explained. "It is based on the belief that sword and swordsman are one and the same and to move the sword, is to move the soul."

"Intriguing. Is it possible for you to show any techniques taught in your school?"

"I'm afraid that I cannot. Most of my techniques are only able to be performed in real life or in games that have magic, which will help me to actually put what I am taught into practice. The human can only accomplish so much with his own power."

"Such an important truth escaping from your lips. I cannot disagree."

"Why, thank you, Nii-sama."

With the intention to end the duel with her next strike, she began pouring energy into her left sword. "Not so fast, Sister!" Not willing to let her unleash the sword skill, Kirito's swords both glowed a light sea green shade as he spun in place and released a deadly omnidirectional wave of energy. Of course, she was small and light meaning she was easily able to dodge by performing a limbo-like maneuver. Being entirely ambidextrous, she is able to fully utilize the skills of a dual-wielding swordswoman to the fullest. Raising her left sword, Breakwind, she poured more energy into it, the blade turning a deep forest green before she regained her balance and charged forwards to deliver a single powerful slash from a slightly angled top left position (maximum of 10 degrees off from being perfectly perpendicular with the ground) down to the right. Due to the angle of the attack, using Specular Cross to counter was out of the question. Instead, he caught the strike using his two blades placed in an X and parried it downwards. However, he was not prepared for what she was about to do next.

Smirking, the green light of Sonic Leap faded away and instead, a new deep blue light exploded from Arcturus, a double-edged eighty-centimeter blade, in contrast to her single-edged Breakwind. Kirito's eyes widened in pure surprise and awe as Kirin began whaling on him. Her first strike was a straight slash from top right to bottom left before she paused and put her full body weight into delivering a horizontal slash to the right. She then angled her sword upwards slightly and slashed to the top left before repeating her first and third strikes with the next two cuts. Thirdly, she delivered a cut originating from the bottom left to the top right before she revolved on her feet clockwise to strike the seventh hit before going against her own momentum to return in a counterclockwise direction to deliver another horizontal eighth hit, a mirror of the seventh strike but delivered in a reversed direction.

Her current position was that she was facing to the left. She performed a full-power vertical slash, cutting into Kirito's right shoulder before pulling out and making a final solid thrust into his abdomen. The force of the thrust expelled a burst of air from where Arcturus sat, jutting out of his back. Immediately, a window opened above them, announcing the clear victor: Kirin. "_What a major upset!_" Yuna yelled. "_The Black Swordsman has been soundly defeated!_"

Rain pretended to fix air glasses as she added, "_But what's this? A rather surprising scene unfolds center stage!_"

What the redhead stated was true. For Kirin, the cries of the overly excited crowd fell on deaf ears and slunk back as background noise. It was due to her noticing that Kirito's health was _dangerously_ low. In her excitement, she had forgotten their promise and unleashed the final and the strongest one-handed sword skill, Nova Ascension, breaking that promise. In a panic, she quickly began chanting the most powerful healing spell granted to her at the moment, Aurora Healing (in the heat of the moment, she had forgotten that she had several healing crystals in her inventory). Her voice shook as she closely monitored the tantalizingly slow rise of his health bar restoring itself back to its maximum value of ten thousand one-hundred fifty, the same health as her since she and Kirito are at the same level. After she had done this, she heaved a great sigh in thanks. "Nii-sama, Nii-sama! Wake up please!" she begged, as the latter had completely lost consciousness and was resting in her lap due to the great loss of health.

His eyes flickered as he tried to open them again. "Ugh…" he groaned. "Dang it, Sis, can't you keep a promise?"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't know using Nova Ascension would be this damaging…" she groveled, apologizing over and over.

"Wait, wait, wait," he said. "Rewind a bit. _That_ was Nova Ascension?"

"Yes, why?"

"You used the most powerful one-handed sword skill in this game to end our duel?"

"Was… that bad…?" she stammered.

"Well, duh!" he scolded. "It's the last sword skill learned for a reason! I'm highly thankful that I survived…"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" she mumbled.

"No, it's fine," he sighed. "What's done is done." He then got up and off her lap and stood up. He held out his hand to help her up which she gladly accepted. "Anyways, I guess now that I've lost, I'm going to be stuck in your care, eh?"

"Remember, you're going to be a high-ranking member so probably equally ranked with Ei-, I mean, Nautilus." She had accidentally almost let a secret escape from her fair tongue. She hoped that Kirito didn't catch it.

Thankfully, his ignorance did her well as he asked, "Alright, lead the way, Major General." Both contestants began walking towards the edge of the floor as the players applauded gloriously, heralding their departure.

They walked past the entrance portcullis and out into the streets which were highly crowded with players. Many questions and comments were thrown at them although they were all mostly directed at Ayanami.

"Lady Aya, must I say that was the most excellent fight!"

"Lady Aya, please give me tips on how to fight as gracefully as you!"

"Defeating the Black Swordsman is your greatest feat yet, Lady Aya!"

"How does it feel to have been defeated, Kirito?!"

"Lady Aya, can you get any more perfect than you already are?"

"Wielding two swords is practically cheating, Lady Aya!"

All of a sudden, the crowd silenced much to the gratitude of the sole person who was receiving compliments. People moved aside as a very familiar girl walked towards the duo, her long black hime-style hair and black and purple coat flowing behind her. As the girl walked closer, she appeared to have a small yet warm smile on her face. She proceeded to twirl her black and purple-tipped front bangs as she looked warmly at the two exhausted contestants.

"I enjoyed spectating your duel, Kirito, Kirin," she spoke in a voice that betrayed such elegance. "I've heard the news that it was to be a major event, but I never imagined it would be this interesting to watch."

"Ah, Stravellia," Kirin greeted. "What kind words you have bestowed upon us, guild leader of Amaryllis."

Kirito being Kirito, simply looked back and forth between the two girls as he was uninformed as to who the other party was. He asked Kirin, "Uh, who is she?"

"Stravellia, leader of the Amaryllis guild," Stravellia said.

Without any feelings of remorse, he bluntly stated, "I don't know you, but hey, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise, Kirito. Also, feel free to drop the formality. In fact, this is me." With that, she opened up her menu and removed her usual outfit as well as her katars, leaving her in an intricate black dress. The purple tips of her front bangs vanished, leaving her hair completely black.

The boy blinked several times as he tried to process the sudden change in appearance. "Uh… Okay then."

Before he could spout out any more useless jargon, Kirin chimed in, "So, what is your business with us, the Knights of the Blood?" The girl had made it very clear about her position and her standing.

"I'd like to congratulate you two on such an outstanding duel," she stated without delay, the warm smile on her face growing slightly. "I'd like to invite the both of you to the headquarters of my guild, Amaryllis. You're welcome to have dinner with us."

"How unseemly of a dignified woman such as yourself!" she scolded her reply. "If anything, it should be us that invites you over. Plus, I doubt you have a completed cooking skill, am I correct?"

"I may not be the best chef, but Strelka can take care of that for us. As for your offer, I don't have an issue with it. I should contact the others though." Stravellia opened her menu again, selecting her friend list and then opening a group chat. "For confirmation, are you inviting me over, or are you simply stating that I should be the one invited?"

A new voice entered into the fray. "I do believe Kirin-shi means the former."

Stravellia looked over to the source of the new voice, Asuna. "Hello, Asuna," she said with a nod. "I'll take the offer. It does get a bit lonely with the same company all the time, anyways. Plus, this may be a death game, but there's nothing wrong with making friends. I am pretty hungry too…"

"Excellent," Asuna smiled. "You should expect very highly refined tastes as you are looking at two people who have completed cooking skills. Now…" She opened her menu and began rifling through the locations that she had visited before as since she doubted that her house could hold a sixth person. "Do you prefer having lunch indoors or outdoors?" she asked, directing the question to Stravellia.

"I'm fine either way. As long as I can eat food prepared by the Lightning Flash, I'm happy."

Slightly miffed, Ayanami added, "Please tell me you're not forgetting that you're going to eat my food too?"

"Of course, of course. I was going to add that in another sentence anyways." With a gentle nod and a warm smile, she stepped closer to the three as if joining with the group. "Should we go now? I'm excited to try some new tastes."

"Come then. To the twenty-second floor, we go."


	10. An Inkling of Evil Epilogue

Twenty-First Day of the Month of the Ash Tree, 2024.

0730 AST

Heathcliff's bedroom, northwestern tower of the Knights of the Blood HQ.

The heavily dimpled cheeks of the man gently filled with air as he slowly breathed in and out. It was obvious that he was sleeping peacefully. However, sleep was not what his schedule dictated to him at this time. A chirping sound echoed through the room as the grandfather clock resting against the right side of the room (if one was standing at the door) opened up to announce the time was exactly halfway between the hours of seven and eight in the morning. The previous night, he had set the clock to go off at this time so he would be able to do a job that morning which required his full attention.

He groggily pulled himself out from under the covers and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. He looked around his room which was as orderly as he had left it the previous night. The room was a rather large room at eight _tsubo_ (about 26.448 square meters) in size. The northwestern corner where his king-size cot was lies next to the north windows whose curtains were currently drawn tight. On the eastern wall, the grandfather clock stood steadfast next to a mahogany working table with papers stacked cleanly on its top. Several quill pens both dry and inked lay on their sides. It seems that he was in the middle of assorting through paperwork concerning Kirito's integration into the Knights of the Blood but grew tired and went to bed.

However, that paperwork can be done later. The more pressing matter at hand was that he, Heathcliff, is actually the man behind this game, Akihiko Kayaba. Being the game creator, he was able to do deeds that were impossible to normal players, such as logging out. His alarm this morning was to remind him to log out of the death game to do a duty in the real world. Sighing, he stood up and stretched. His simple white and red nightwear followed suit with his stretching and the shortness of the shirt gave way to an unwarranted view of his exposed midriff. Akihiko waved his right hand in the air and called out the menu. He fiddled around with his menu first, sending information from this world to the printer waiting in the real world. Satisfied, he scrolled to the bottom and tapped the log out option and closed his eyes as his digital body dissolved and his consciousness returned to his material body.

* * *

0735

A hidden cottage deep in the mountains of Aichi Prefecture.

The early morning light filtered through the translucent curtained windows. That same light softly illuminated the one-room house, enlightening the contents within. Slumped in a comfy stuffed couch, there lay a flower of a woman sleeping beside a bed that was occupied with the unconscious form of another person, a man. Her dozing visage was like that of a yellow camellia, longing for when she can see the eyes of her significant other open yet again. Soon, that wait would end. The sound of blankets rustling aroused her from her snooze. When she opened her eyes to watch the scene in front of her unfold, she, at first, thought that she was still asleep and this was just a dream. The sickly-looking man sat up in his covers and removed the helmet-like NerveGear. A soft, shaking voice issued from his lips, "Rinko…"

Just that one word filled the woman, whose name was Rinko Koujiro, with a kind of happiness that can only be labeled as children's folly. "Akihiko, you're awake!" Leaping off of her chair, she enveloped the man in a bear hug. Suddenly, she switched gears and she scolded, "You've been diving nonstop for sixty days now! Do you have _any idea_ how worried I was?!"

"I'm quite sorry, my dear," he stated. "I apologize. However, I am only logging out to take a breather as well as contact my employees."

"For what?"

"I have encountered an interesting group of players… You know I have founded a guild, correct? The 'Knights of the Blood'?"

"Yes. What of it?"

"There are a lot of promising players in my guild that would deeply weigh on my conscience if they were to die. I plan to instruct my employees to investigate the hospitals in which the players in my guild are held in and to tweak the microwave function. At least, this way, if they die, they won't lose their life but instead, they'll be forcefully ejected."

"I… I see…"

"What about on this end? Any other news I should know of before I make my calls?"

The woman proceeded to walk back to her chair and sat down. Putting her hands together, she began twiddling her thumbs while saying, "Well, you _do_ know about ALfheim Online, correct?"

"ALO?" he asked. "Of course I am familiar with it."

"It's been out for a year already and the player base it is gathering is quite massive."

"Oh? Despite the ongoing incident about my game?"

"Yes. It has gained quite the vigorous player following."

"I see. If I remember correctly, it is the result of Argus going bankrupt and selling rights to RECT Progress Inc. They're using my Cardinal System."

"Yes. Are you irritated?"

"Not at all! On the other hand, I'm actually quite glad people are using my Cardinal System. Nothing brings me greater joy than knowing that something I invented is being used for the greater good. Anyways…"

Akihiko stood up but nearly fell over. Rinko grabbed his left arm before he could topple face-first into the oak floor. "This is what you get for remaining in-game for sixty days straight."

He laughed weakly. "Ahaha… I guess. Just support me until I get to the table. My printer should be finished with the job I instructed it to do earlier when I was still in-game."

_Now that I think about it…_ Rinko turned her eyes to the printer whose tray was filled with several sheets of paper. "What's all this for?"

"I used the tracking logs to reverse-search for their NerveGears and as such, the hospitals in which they are confined."

Rinko helped Akihiko to the table and into his chair. "Thank you," he stated. He then began to riffle through the files as he took yet another piece of paper to take notes. "Ah, the Idol is held in JR Tokyo General Hospital, eh?"

"The 'Idol'? Would you happen to be talking about that young sensation, Ayanami Shiratsuyu?"

"Indeed. She along with another promising and powerful member of my guild, Nijika Karatachi, is also in the same hospital."

"I see. Do you want some coffee?"

"I'm more in the mood for tea."

"At least you still have the decency to want to drink the refreshment that has an excellent healing effect."

"Haha, thanks, Rinko."

The woman of twenty-six walked to the left side of the room where the makeshift kitchen was. Over the stove, she lit a fire and put a tea kettle to boil. Whistling, she also began to prepare a small breakfast of scrambled eggs using butter as the "oil". She sought for the healthiest breakfast for her significant other. While she left the eggs to simmer, she opened the refrigerator to fetch the gallon of orange juice before topping off a glass. During that time, the kettle whistled as it strained to let the woman know that it had finished its job. She shut off the flame burning underneath and poured it into a china cup. Taking the plate of food in one hand and the cup of tea in the other, she walked back to Akihiko's workspace where he was busy talking on the phone.

"… Yes, you are able to do this, are you?" Rinko said nothing as she placed the platter on the table which Akihiko acknowledged with a nod and a smile before returning to his conversation. "Yes, just simply change the settings. … I know, I know, stay calm, friend. You are saving a life in doing this as well as putting that life at immediate risk. … I see. Alright, both Kazuto Kirigaya and Asuna Yuuki have been retrofit? … Good. On to the next ones."

Rinko asked. "Is this your way for atoning for all those lives you took even if it was indirect?"

Taking his face away from the phone, he leaned back in his chair, staring at the ceiling. "Perhaps… If anything, I would like to ensure the safety of the lives of those who are serving under me."

"Very selective of you."

"Of course. I have a very high expectations bar for players. I only recruit promising players into the Knights of the Blood."

Rinko posed another question, in relation to the game. "How about those ten Unique Skills you added?"

"Ah, those?" he said. "I am actually quite surprised. Aside from the unlimited number of other skills, I honestly didn't expect three people aside from myself to manifest Unique Skills."

"What of the Soaring Slash Unique Skill? I was the one that suggested those conditions."

"Yes, that Unique Skill is owned by a young adult named Klein. I didn't expect that your suggestion to add a slight wait before the activation of a post-motion delay would spawn players who center their attack style on chaining together sword skills!"

"Let me guess what their exploitation is called." Rinko proceeded to put her chin in her hand as she stood in a thinking position. "Um… Sword Composition!"

"False."

"Uh… Blade Dance!"

"Off."

"Argh! Um… I'm close… Uh…" Akihiko couldn't help but chuckle slightly. Rinko was always like this. He recalled the time when the girl invited him to the swimming club back in college. Those were the good old days. However, Akihiko couldn't reminisce too much now. His attention was needed in the present. Suddenly, Rinko yelled triumphantly, "I got it! Skill Connect!"

"Correct," Akihiko replied. "Anyways, you know of the Unique Skills."

"Of course," she stated. "The first one is Dual Blades which we both set to be given to the player whose reflexes were the fastest. The second one is yours, Holy Sword, which means you made yourself the strongest player. The third is Assassin's Blade which is obtained after completing the one-handed dagger weapon skill. Fourth is Battoujutsu, obtained after completing the katana weapon skill. Fifth is Infinite Spear, obtained after completing the two-handed assault spear weapon skill. Sixth is Niten Ichi-ryu, obtained after completing battoujutsu. Seventh is Shurikenjutsu, obtained after completing the throwing blade weapon skill. Eighth is Soaring Slash which I set to be obtained after successfully performing Skill Connect three thousand two hundred times. Lastly, Songstress which we both agreed should be obtained via completing the Chant Extra Skill which is unlocked by training the musical instrument hobby skill."

"You left one out."

"Don't make a woman mention that outrageous skill!"

"Okay, fine, sorry…" he replied, hanging his head. "Well, just in case you don't remember, Darkness Blade is unlocked by the person who performs the most player killings."

Rinko shut her ears, eager to not hear about it. "No, no, I can't hear you," she monotoned.

"Haha, I'm sorry for making you uncomfortable."

"As if I'm _not_ uncomfortable for having to stay here to care for you."

He tilted his head in confusion. "Why don't you leave?" Rinko clammed up and her face went red in embarrassment. Completely oblivious, he turned his attention back to his work when his phone rang as another person was calling him while he was on a call with his employee. "Actually, tell me later. This is quite an interesting person to be calling me…" He spoke into the mouthpiece, "Please call me when you are finished with your job. Right now, I have a call that I cannot afford to miss." Pressing the end-and-accept button, he said, "Why, it is a pleasure to talk with you, Professor Arshavin."

"Dobroye utro." The soft, commanding voice on the other side of the line greeted Akihiko in her native tongue. "Privyet, Professor Kayaba. I see you are finally awake?" The person calling was a girl, not yet in her teenage years but an important face in the scientific industry. Her name was Nanairo Arshavin and her extreme genius warranted her graduation from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at just the age of twelve with a Ph. D in the study of virtual and augmented reality.

Akihiko couldn't help but break into a smile. He had wanted to talk with this kid genius at least once in his life. "What warrants you to give me a call? Surely it is not from the kindness of your heart."

"What if I told you that that is exactly the case?"

"Surely you jest!" he exclaimed softly due to him still being low on energy.

"No, it is the truth." Seated in a bench in Hikarigaoka Park, a relaxing location within Nerima Ward in Tokyo, the girl of twelve kicked her feet through the air as she sat on the bench. To any onlookers who knew nothing about her prestigiousness, she was nothing more than a child who was on the phone with a friend as much as they knew. She leaned back against the bench and stared directly up into the sky as she added, "I must say that I am sad that I missed my chance to play Sword Art Online."

"Implying that you wished to have started SAO at age ten? Are you sure you will be able to keep up with the death game I set up?"

"Oh no. Of course, I cannot condone that," she scolded. "What I mean is that the technology you have invented has me extremely intrigued."

"To be told that by a child genius such as yourself is an honor beyond my wildest imaginations."

"Perhaps… But it is the honest truth, Professor. Your NerveGear is by far, the most intriguing invention yet. Of course, the second-generation FullDive machine of the AmuSphere invented by RECT Progress is an invention that can rival yours."

"However, as the original person who invented the breakthrough, I will be more renowned? Am I understanding your implication correctly?"

"Indeed. You took the words right off of my tongue."

"Ahaha. I guess an aging man such as myself still retains some sense of humor, huh?"

"Stop it. Has diving for too long befuddled your mind to the point that you forget you are only twenty-eight?"

"No, no, it's just a stupid gag, Professor. I look quite horrid after diving for three months straight. Anyways, I am sure you haven't called me to just make small talk. What is your true purpose, Professor?"

On the other end, Nanairo stopped overly relaxing. She sat back up straight on the bench and put on her business voice. "Indeed. Idyllic greetings can wait for another time. The reason why I am calling you, Professor, is to invite you on an endeavor that we of the Japanese Self-Defense Force have come up with."

Before she could continue, however, Akihiko interrupted. "I apologize for interrupting your request but must I say that you are Russian?"

"Is that your way of discouraging me against labeling myself as Japanese?" the girl laughed. "Unfortunately for you, I am full Japanese, having two Japanese parents. However, my father is Russian and had raised me in America. I don't remember the arguments my parents had when they discovered my genius but I know for sure that my mother was against my new life in America. My father did win the argument in the end though and I ended up where I am today."

"Interesting… Well, you can continue."

"As I was saying, we of the Japanese Self-Defense Force have been chafing at the outdated items that America has been sending us. Through this line of thought, I have been hired by the government to help create something that we never thought of: a bottom-up AI."

"Hoh?" Akihiko let out a breath in anticipation as he began rapping the table with his fingers. "Very interesting. You have my full attention."

"Oh, I do? Well, I'd like you to listen up. Have you heard of Project Alicization?"

"'_Project Alicization_'?"

"Yes."

"No, I believe this is the first time I have heard of this."

"The Artificial Labile Intelligent Cybernated Existence. That is what we call our Bottom-up Artificial Intelligence."

"The acronym… '_A. L. I. C. E._'?"

"Indeed. That is where the project gets its name."

"Interesting. How exactly will we build a truly sentient AI?"

"I will need to know if you are on board with the project or not."

Akihiko chose that time to look at his clock. Realizing that it had ticked past eleven, he was shocked. "Apologies, Professor, but the time has just occurred to me. If I do not log back in soon, players may suspect something is wrong."

"Ah, I see. Are you diving back into Aincrad?"

"Of course. The next time I log out, I want to hear the full details on this project."

"Indeed. I wish you well, Professor Akihiko Kayaba."

"To you as well, Professor Nanairo Arshavin." Akihiko pressed the 'end call' button before dialing a new number. He then spoke to his subordinates to complete the job that they had started. Once he was satisfied, he hung up and turned to Rinko. "I'm sorry… I'll be going back into my dream."

"Just… Promise me you won't die, okay?"

"I won't. I'll make sure to come back because this '_Project Alicization_' has me deeply intrigued." Smiling one last time, Akihiko laid back in his bed and donned the NerveGear once again. Taking one last deep breath, he said, "_Link start._"

Rinko watched as her significant other yet again dove back into Sword Art Online. Sighing, she sat down in the desk at which he had previously worked on and eyed the papers he had been scrutinizing so intensely. From the desk, the faces of a rather handsome boy with jet black hair and a girl with flowing chestnut hair stared back at her. "Kazuto Kirigaya… Asuna Yuuki… Interesting. Now… How shall this play out?"

Yet again, the bell tolled.

Time moved forward.

Closer to the end.

Or so it seems…


End file.
